The Genetic Prison
by Ninjalara
Summary: Sequel to Concrete Prison. Third in Prison trilogy. Danger arises when filmmakers come to the island. Meanwhile there’s tension at camp when Leo’s daughter develops a crush for Raphael. Does peace come with a sacrifice? Complete!
1. Urban Myths

Disclaimer: I do own the following characters; Andrew Walker, Dr Aquel, Dr Yesmal, Dr Welner, Leeroy, Sarah Watson, Raphael (the other one :P), Iris, Gabriel, Diana and Morpheus. I don't own anyone else (apart from the dispensable extras), nor am I making any profits by writing this story. This story will be rated for language and adult themes. …There is a character death, though it is minor. This story is set five years after The Concrete Prison. It's set in the TMNT:TNM universe.

Author's Note: It is strongly recommended that you read at least one of the other two Prison fics. This is the third in the series, and I when I'm writing it I assume that you're familiar with both stories so that I don't have to include reminders of what has happened in the past. You might be able to get away with it… just don't ask me why on earth Raph is Leo's son x.x' To make things easy, the turtles are currently aged 37, Raphael is 17, Diana 13, and Iris and Gabriel are 9. Flashbacks will also feature throughout the story and will probably be defined by Italics.

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The Genetic Prison

Chapter One: Urban Myths.

Kauai, Hawaii.

A weary face stared at the humming kitchen appliance, watching as a deflated bag of corn popped and sprung to life as it was slowly cooked. "You know, you shouldn't stand so close," a young voice advised him. Andrew Walker's shoulders rose and fell quickly, rather startled by his colleague's abrupt entrance. Andrew sighed, tiredly looking away from the bustling popcorn bag in the microwave.

It was a small office. Paperwork cluttered the desks while an inadequate kitchenette stood to the side, featuring only a little old stove and a microwave. Two windows lined the walls, but no view or light could be seen since the sun had already set a few hours earlier. Andrew's co-worker leaned against the door frame; the only exit to the room. Thankfully the reception area that the office was tacked onto was less cramped, though Andrew didn't expect luxury accommodation especially when he ran a camp located in the middle of the woods.

"They're sitting around the campfire," Andrew's co-worker said, as though he was admitting that he didn't have the experience to continue on with the guests' activities by himself. Looking back at the popcorn in the microwave, Andrew sighed knowing that he was needed elsewhere. Grabbing a thick green jacket, the wildlife officer prepared himself for the chill of the night, moved through the reception area and stepped outside.

A large bonfire could be seen through the darkened, misty air. Sure enough, all the guests of the camp were sitting around its fiery warmth, and from what Andrew could see, they were getting fairly rowdy as well. The middle-aged man grumped as his young co-worker stumbled to keep up with him. Andrew hated these types. Over the next few weeks, most of the camp was booked by a large film company, with only a few cabins left over for vacationers. Most of the guests were young males who had just finished film school and had found luck by finding jobs in Los Angeles. Andrew didn't even have to ask for their agenda; he knew that Kauai's natural beauty attracted many filmmakers, and the rambunctious, egotistical grad students were probably just simply scouting for a suitable location. However, in the meantime, Andrew hoped to teach them a little respect, especially when it came to the island's mysteries.

"Did ya bring marshmallows?" A skinny man called out before taking another swig of his bottle of beer.

"Smores are only for pissy scout groups," another man said. Feeling adventurous, he leaned forward and poured some of his beer into the fire, causing the flames to roar and leap up with ferocious energy. The others laughed and whooped with foolish excitement at the fire's reaction.

"Idiots," Andrew muttered to himself as he finally arrived at the site. Trying to remain patient, Andrew found a place to sit on a nearby log.

"So what have you got planned? Any freaky island stories?"

"Yeah! Like ghosts and shit," another man rudely said.

"Hawaii does have a number of urban legends. Quite a lot of them feature ghosts, actually," Andrew announced casually, trying to remember his job and stick to his educational spiels. There was a brief glimpse of relief, as everyone suddenly became silent. Andrew smiled and stroked his brown beard. He finally had the stage. "Hawaii's always had a turbulent past. There's a lot of stories surrounding the indigenous people of Kauai and their folklore, while there's been World War Two which has also created some ghost tales," Andrew started, his eyes dancing with excitement in the firelight. He had everyone's attention now.

"You know the urban legend where a boy leaves his girlfriend in the car, only to be found the next morning hung from a tree, his feet scraping against the car's roof?" Andrew inquired. The film crew nodded. "Well apparently that story originated from Hawaii, and I've even heard from some locals that sometimes an apparition can be seen at that spot; Morgan's Corner," the wildlife officer continued to inform them.

"There's a few other urban legends related to Hawaii. One is about a store clerk who fell ill. After being sick for a few days, he died. Inquiring about his death, doctors asked whether he'd been around rodent droppings or urine. According to the story, if mice and rat droppings aren't cleaned up, then they become dry and turn to dust. Being in a storeroom for a supermarket, this dust settles on the tops of cereal boxes, packaging, fruit, coke cans, you name it! The doctor came to the conclusion that somehow the store clerk ingested the dust which later caused organ failure and his death," Andrew briefly retold the story.

"I've heard that one before," one man spoke up. "Apparently the symptoms the man had in the story don't occur in real life when someone's exposed to rat poo," the man continued on, scrutinising the credibility of Andrew's stories.

"They're just urban legends. I never said they were true," Andrew defended himself.

"Tell us something scary!"

"A ghost story!" a man begged.

"I'm afraid there's too many to tell!" Andrew said, causing everyone to fall silent again. "A lot of the tales revolve around night marchers. The night marchers are said to be old warriors who travel around in groups holding torches. Some say that if you see them, then it means instantaneous death, while others say that you can fool them by 'playing dead' yourself. In some stories, cars have stalled or have flipped and crashed because the passengers have forgotten to pray to them when they drive down particular roads. Sometimes the mythical volcano gods are also included into the tales. Farmyard animals have been known to go crazy at night, all staring towards either the woods or road. As part of a Filipino tradition, a woman once claimed she saw an apparition beside her bed one night that disappeared when she wiggled her toes. Other residents have claimed that they've been possessed or ghosts have haunted their houses," Andrew said in a low whisper, causing the keen listeners to lean forward intently to hear what the wildlife officer was saying.

"Are all of them about night marchers?" one interested guest asked. Andrew shook his head.

"Most of them are, however just like any other state in America, we get our fair share of ordinary ghost tales as well," Andrew informed him.

"Have there been any dinosaur stories since Jurassic Park was filmed here?" one asked, obviously being quite a movie buff himself. Andrew smirked at the rather common question.

"No. Not really," he answered. With an intriguing smile and playful eyes, Andrew leaned forward, rested his elbows on top of his knees and stroked his short brown beard with one hand. "There is one story though…" Andrew started before trailing off. Everyone's eyes glistened as they reflected the crackling flames of the campfire, all leaning in forwards even more in order to hear every word that toppled out of Andrew's mouth.

"Is this one scary?" a man dared to break the silence, anxious to hear a good tale just like the rest of his friends.

"It is… because it's true," Andrew said with a rather sinister tone to his voice. The film crew all looked at one another, all desperate to learn more. "It has been said that just after World War Two had ended, a boy was born in a small village in Kauai with a skin disorder. This disease caused his skin to peel and become dry, giving at a first glance the impression of scales. Combined with a sickly, pale green hue, it wasn't long till this boy was known as the 'lizard child'," Andrew paused his story for dramatic emphasis, making sure that he still had everyone's attention. Nothing could be heard except for the occasional rustling of the fire and the wail of a nocturnal bird. Satisfied, he continued on with the story.

"Although other villagers were at first disgusted by his appearance, they soon felt sorry for him and accepted him into society. What they soon found out was that the skin disease was contagious. It wasn't long till whole families developed the infection. When people asked for professional medical advice from other towns, the whole village was instead placed under quarantine. No one could get in. No one could get out," Andrew once again paused and emphasized his last few words. Still holding a serious facial expression, he sat back upright and took a deep meditative breath in and out before telling the next part of the story.

"It's unclear what happened to the villagers next. Some say they all eventually starved to death when outsiders were too afraid to enter the quarantined area to provide aid. It's sometimes said that their souls joined those of the night marchers. Other records say that when the village developed into a state of disrepair, they turned towards the mountains and lived in the forest. On occasion people deny there was ever a 'lizard child' and that the story originated from some old Japanese soldiers who survived a shipwreck in the Second World War, only to live in the forests out of fear of being captured by their enemies. Whatever the case may be… there is definitely something unordinary about those woods," Andrew said, raising his left hand to point towards the volcanic peak of the island and the dense forests that surrounded it.

"People who have stayed at this camp have said that while bush walking they've heard unknown voices in the distance. Since there's no other inhabited place for miles, that of course isn't possible. Some people say they've heard conversations, sometimes yelling, while also the sound of a young girl laughing seems to be a common occurrence as well. People have also claimed to be attacked; scared off by some sort of projectile. There are different theories to this. The legend sometimes says that the citizens of the forgotten village try to lure visitors towards them, as though they are trying to bring new blood into their families. Other times they say that the villagers don't want others to suffer the same fate as them and therefore try to scare them away. Going back to the Japanese soldier theory, some people have claimed that they've seen shuriken, old-fashioned Japanese weapons, lodged in trees. It doesn't really matter what the truth is; if you ever hear voices in the woods, keep to the marked paths and turn and run the other way," Andrew warned all of the young hooligans, finally concluding his long story. The men remained silent for a few seconds until a couple held smirks on their faces, disbelieving how rapt they were in Andrew's tale.

"That's not scary!" A man claimed, chuckling to himself.

"Got any more?" another asked, sounding quite bored. Andrew sighed and tiredly stood up.

"No, sorry. Maybe some other night," Andrew said. "Now just remember that we have a one a.m. curfew. We still have other visitors here on this camping ground, so if we here any noise complaints after that time, I'm afraid there's a twenty dollar fine for all parties involved. We advise you not to go into the woods at this time. Of course we can't stop you, but if you do then any resulting injury cannot be blamed on us! This campfire also must be put out by midnight. Also, always make sure you're wearing shoes outdoors since Kauai is home to a number of snakes, spiders and harmful insects," Andrew finished his spiel, detailing the basic rules of the camp. Although he had already told them earlier that day at the introductory meeting, he still wouldn't put it past them to completely forget all of what he had instructed.

His boots scraped against the dry dirt as he trudged his way back to the office. Once again his co-worker ran to catch up to him. "You always tell that story," the young man stated.

"So?"

"Well I just thought that the toe wiggling story was creepier. Maybe you could tell that one in more detail next time," the man finished his suggestion. Andrew frowned at his reasoning.

"I tell the 'lizard child' story because it needs to be said," Andrew said bluntly, causing the other employee to give him a baffled look. The older man smiled to himself, contentedly knowing the truth of the matter. The legend of the 'lizard child' wasn't made up to keep visitors safe, but rather to protect the island's most unusual and unique inhabitants of all…

The two wildlife officers didn't say another word to each other. Arriving back at the reception desk and front office, Andrew headed straight back to the kitchenette. He froze as soon as he entered the room. The microwave door was left open, the timer paused, and most importantly… the popcorn was missing.

"Figures," Andrew muttered to himself.

To be continued…

Author's Note: Don't worry, the turtles will feature in the next chapter. This was really supposed to be joined onto the following scene, but things got too long, so consider this kind of like an introduction. I don't really know how often updates will come, but I'll try to spew them out as fast as possible ;)


	2. The Wild Child

Rene - Yeah, I had writer's block for ages! It doesn't help that TMNT Season 3 hasn't aired in Australia yet, so while I was trying to plan this fic there really wasn't anything I could watch in order to maintain my interest in the turtles. So for a while I kind of lost that spark. But what I found helped me was just ignoring the feeling and starting to write this fic anyway, and then I ended up planning the ending while doing that. Anyway, I hope you overcome it soon. Also, I did base that lizard child story off leprosy… and Freddy Kreuger o.0!

Sassyblondexoxo - I think that urban legend was actually about the Hanta virus. I'm not really sure about it, but as the guy says in chapter one apparently that particular Hawaiian story was exaggerated and that the Hanta virus would cause different symptoms. :shrugs: After researching so many urban legends, I've forgotten which ones were true XD

Chapter Two: The Wild Child.

A light breeze cascaded through the trees, making the rays of sunlight just barely breaking through the canopy, twirl and surrender to the shades of the wind. Overall there was a trained silence. Breathing was steady, yet stealthy. Movements were planned beforehand, carefully creating a path through the forest's leaf litter and paddocks of ferns. Every second counted. Every move was crucial. If Raphael lost his patience, then the mission would fail. It was so important to succeed… Unfortunately the little green munchkin that accompanied him wasn't as passionate.

"Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers; A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?" Iris abruptly babbled on at the top of her voice. Raphael jumped in shock at the volume of her voice, while a number of startled birds flocked from the nearby trees in fear. "Can you say that?" Iris innocently asked, bounding behind her older brother.

"Huh?" Raphael's stealthy focus was too disrupted to comprehend a single word the little female turtle had just said.

"Can you say that?" Iris asked again.

"What? No! Iris, shut up for a sec, will ya!" Raphael growled, knowing that their cover had been blown.

"I was just wondering, that's all," Iris said. Raph groaned at hearing her voice again.

"Iris, when I say shut up, I mean no more speaking," Raph felt like he had to define his previous request. Iris sighed and chased after Raphael when he moved from tree to tree, stopping occasionally to look at his surroundings. _'We've probably already lost'_, Raph thought bitterly to himself.

It was a simple game of Capture the Flag. Raph and Iris were teamed up together and had to win against the do-gooders; Diana and Gabriel. Each team had a flag to hide within a certain area of the forest. The objective of the ninja training game was to obtain the enemy's flag and reach the finishing line. There were a number of tactics to choose from; they could assign one person to defend their flag while the other person searched for the opposing team's, or they could both go on the offensive and hunt down the other flag together. Raphael decided to pick the latter when it came to tactics. Yet due to Iris' constant ramblings and disruptions, Raph never found Diana and Gabriel's flag. Hours had passed, giving them no idea how their siblings were going. Suspecting that the game might have been over ages ago, Raph decided to just head towards the finishing line, though he still kept hidden just in case everything was still being played.

Climbing up a few rocks, Raph looked back over his shell to see if his little half-sister was still keeping up with him. "Do you reckon it's over?" Iris asked. Raph frowned at her question, though he couldn't be bothered yelling at her again about staying quiet.

"Of course it would be," Raph grumped, clambering up some more smooth rocks. Slightly out of breath, the duo reached the top of the outcrop of boulders and waded through the sea of small plants. Making their way through a cluster of trees, three figures started to emerge.

"Took you long enough," Diana said with a smirk while Gabriel sat beside her, proudly waving Raph's team flag in the air. Raph let out a long breath full of disgruntlement.

"Where have you been Raph? I was starting to get worried," Leo asked, arms crossed. Raph could easily tell that his teacher and father wasn't pleased.

"Sorry," Raph said, quite embarrassed about his performance. The turtle gritted his teeth, wanting to tell Leo how annoying and disrespectful Iris had been during the mission, but the kind soul within him didn't want to publicly blame the little girl in front of the rest of her family. So like always, Raph decided to take the fall, at least for the time being. Sensing that Raphael was holding something back, Leonardo dismissed the rest of the class.

Raphael stayed behind as his younger three siblings slowly moved off, all keeping to the unmarked path that would take them back to the lair. Relieved that they were gone, Raph's feelings of contentment diminished rapidly when he saw Leo's serious expression. "So…" the blue-wearing turtle started. "What happened this time?" Leo finished his inquiry. Raphael sighed while he started to move off, together walking back towards their home while they talked.

"It's Iris. She's too… distracting," Raphael began his complaint. "Like she has no concept of what's going on. Why can't I be paired up with Diana instead? At least she keeps quiet!"

"Then that'll leave Gabriel and Iris by themselves. They're only nine. They need someone with them," Leonardo calmly explained the situation to his adopted son. "I'll pair you up with Gabriel next time. How 'bout that?" he tried to form an ultimatum.

"Gabriel? Yeah… he's a great conversationalist!" Raph exclaimed, flicking his arms up into the air out of frustration. Leo frowned, noticing that the teenager was more irritated that usual. Raphael was always known to be a dependent, understanding and reliable boy, but Iris and her unique way of living and enjoying life just seemed to continually crawl under his skin. Yet Leo could sense that this time it wasn't all about his little sister. There seemed to be another untouched issue that was kept hidden under his tongue.

"Raph… What's bugging you?" Leo asked, fishing for any questionable responses. Raphael loudly let his breath out while he walked slightly off the bush trail that the turtle family had invented. He moved away from Leo for a few seconds, before returning to the track of worn down soil and trodden leaves. It was as though he wanted to pace but couldn't because of his location, suggesting to Leo that he was right with his suspicions of unresolved problems.

"You know, when you were my age, you were fighting bad guys every night, training hard, using cool equipment…" Raph didn't finish his sentence and instead just faded his voice down towards the end. Leo looked at him quizzically for a few seconds, only half understanding what the teen was trying to say.

"So?" Leo wanted a full explanation.

"Well…" Raph didn't exactly know what he was trying to say. It was feeling he was experiencing, and he couldn't think of any incidences that he could use as examples. So Leonardo filled in the blanks. Raphael, just like all boys, finally wanted to be treated like a man. Yet due to a lack of dangerous activity unlike Leo's early years, the ninjitsu Raph was learning didn't have much of a purpose. The children were always training and never using their skills in a real situation. Frankly Leonardo hoped that they would never have to act like the ninjas they were striving to be. It was a whole different era back in the days where Leo and his brothers would patrol the city of New York.

"You kids don't know how lucky you have it," Leo muttered, stepping ahead of Raphael. The teenager lowered his head to look at the gritty ground, knowing his request for danger and excitement was incredibly ignorant and foolish. But still that feeling of uselessness lingered in every nerve that pulsed through his mind.

"I just want to be included in those adult meetings you have."

"What adult meetings?" Leo became confused again, stopping and turning around to look the younger turtle in the eyes.

"The ones you hold at night, where you tell me to baby-sit the others while you speak to Uncle Mike, Don and mum," Raph said, crossing his arms as a symbol of defiance. Leo simply tilted his head to one side, thinking.

"I never thought that you wanted to be included," Leo stated honestly.

"Well I find it rather degrading when you assume things like that. Like you just pass me off…" Raph trailed off, once again not knowing how to explain his emotions or feelings.

"…I understand. You want to start fighting with the big boys," Leo summarised.

"Well, yeah".

"How about this then: next week we'll play Capture the Flag but with the whole family. Mike, Don, your mother and I included. How about that?" Leo offered, only wanting to resolve the problem.

"Will Iris still be on my team?" Raphael inquired, as though he was a criminal who wanted his demands to be met. Leo only gave him a small understanding grin in return.

"I'll try not to pair her up with you again in the near future. But I'm afraid you just have to get used to working with her. We all have our arguments, and as a leader you just have to keep working past that," Leonardo lectured, wanting Raph to acknowledge that one day he would have to lead his siblings when the first generation was gone.

"But she's got absolutely no focus! She never stops talking!" Raph continued to complain, not seeing his father's reasoning.

"She tests my patience sometimes… but it's just who she is," Leo tried to remain indifferent.

"On this task she was just so annoying! She's getting worse!"

"Okay, okay. I'll have a word about her behaviour when we get back to camp, alright?" Leo finally agreed. He figured that it was about time Iris' indulgent habits were stopped. Many disciplinary tactics had been attempted to try and get Iris to be more serious about her ninjitsu studies, but it usually was a lost cause, mainly because she only ever really listened to her father, Michelangelo. Leonardo groaned inwardly, knowing a headache was coming because of his deal with Raph.

"Thanks Dad," Raph said with a smile, feeling more relaxed now that he had spoken to someone about his feelings. The two turtles continued to walk along the thin dirt path. Feathery ferns brushed against their legs as they traveled through the secluded forest. Clear minded, Raphael was able to admire the environment's beauty, though Leo still kept looking at the ground, always thinking and planning the rest of the day and the weeks ahead.

"I might get you to spar against Diana later on this afternoon as well," Leo suddenly piped up, as though the thought had suddenly popped into his brain and was immediately faxed towards his mouth.

"Good," Raph agreed with a grin. While Diana was four years younger than he was, the girl always presented a challenge even though he won the practice fights most of the time. Raph enjoyed sparring with her, as when he fought with any of his older relatives, he had to work overtime in order to just land a hit. Ninja games were normally played in the morning, with the rest of the day devoted to personal training and lastly sparring sessions. Raph and Diana had been sparring against each other for most of their life, but since Iris and Gabriel had recently seriously started fighting with their weapons, things were about to become more interesting. A small part of Raph couldn't wait for the next couple of weeks to unfold.

The narrow bush path gradually widened as the dirt ground slowly became more compact, causing the ferns that smothered the area to appear more scattered. The numerous and often alluring birdcalls that frequently sounded were echoed against a curved rocky cliff face. Following the natural bottom of the giant wall of hard pumice, the two turtles finally came across a large group of familiar caves that they called home.

The lair had gradually become more technologically advanced as the years went by. Due to there being no power outlets, Donatello had become obsessed with solar power. Although everything had to be recharged once the energy had been drained, Don's inventions saved the turtles from worrying about campfires being spotted or smelt by humans when they had to cook some food or boil water. The only thing that didn't seem to be solar powered was the Hog, which Raph had adopted as his own, not that he ever had the chance to ride it.

Don had also provided the clan with some much needed entertainment; the most newest object being a simple television. Donatello had tried to get one to work years ago but found out that there was no clear signal where they had decided to set up camp. So eventually Don solved the problem by setting up a dish somewhere else in the woods so he could bounce the signal. Leo thought that it was a shame to introduce the television again into their lives, as since it had been working, the amount of time the family had spent conversing with each other had been reduced.

Raphael departed from Leonardo's side and immediately went to his private and rather cramped alcove where he kept his belongings. The Hog that used to be owned by his father sat idly outside of his 'room'. Not forgetting his promise, Leo tried to find Iris so he could speak to her about her behaviour in lessons. Leo stopped and swiftly lifted up his foot in mild alarm when he had stepped on something smooth and papery. Looking down, Leo was surprised to find an empty popcorn bag, the type that needed to be placed in a microwave for four minutes. The turtle was weary before, but now Leo was simply angry. He knew who the culprit was.

Leonardo briskly stormed over towards another small cave that was occupied by a certain food-loving turtle. "You've been to the towns again!" Leo accused, pointing to the foreign popcorn bag that was still on the floor.

"I was hungry," Michelangelo admitted with a sheepish grin. The ill-thought response only made Leonardo more furious.

"Dammit Mike! Your stomach put the whole clan in danger!" Leo snapped.

"Relax Leo! It's perfectly safe. It's not what you think," Mike said.

"Not what I think? What I know is that you on purposely ventured out into a populated area and risked being seen for a measly bag of popcorn! Am I missing anything here?" Leo rhetorically asked.

"Oh forget it! You wouldn't understand…"

"Wouldn't understand what?"

"Well I'm getting kinda sick of eating fruit, veggies and fish every day! Yeesh! I'm _so_ sorry that I have taste buds!" Mike argued, getting aggravated. Leo sighed.

"Look. We've all made sacrifices. But all of that will mean nothing if we're seen… or caught."

"I know, Leo. I know."

"Without our secrecy we'd only be zoo animals. Do you want that again?"

"No."

"Good. Now I hope that _you_ understand that humans will only bring trouble," Leo continued to lecture.

"Yeah, okay! I get it Leo! No need to patronise," Mike murmured, quickly getting tired of the conversation. Leo brought up the argument every time Mike brought home a pizza or another type of food item. While the turtles visited the towns on the odd occasion in order to find useful appliances that Don could convert to solar power, Mike was the only one who seemed to go on a regular basis, much to the others' dismay. It was fast becoming a dangerous habit, though Leo couldn't find a decent way to deter him from leaving the lair.

Dropping the subject for the moment, Leo once again remembered what he had said to Raphael earlier. "Do you know where Iris is?" Leo suddenly asked Mike when he couldn't see the little girl in the area where he was standing. Michelangelo gave him an alarmed look.

"I thought she was with you!" he exclaimed, instantly getting worried. Becoming distressed, both Leo and Mike looked around their outdoor home. Iris was still nowhere to be seen.

"Diana, where's your sister?" Leo hurriedly called out when he found his daughter sitting around, braiding her white bandanna.

"She should be around here… somewhere…" Diana trailed off when she grew uncertain herself, quickly joining the hunt to find the mischievous yellow-wearing turtle.

"Did she come home with you?" Mike rapidly questioned Diana.

"Yes! I swear she was just here!" Diana couldn't help but feel partly responsible for Iris' disappearance, but then again it wasn't as if it was the first time.

"She must have wandered off again," Leo muttered, finally feeling the migraine he had predicted ten minutes earlier. Mike groaned, knowing that he was going to have to endure another one of his leader's lectures. "Why does she keep doing this?" Leo asked no one in particular. It was clear that Leonardo was getting aggravated by Iris' antics. Diana meanwhile searched for Iris amongst the nearby rocks and caves.

"I don't know," Mike whispered, feeling ashamed.

"I keep telling you to speak to her about this! It's just not safe," as Mike had prophesied, Leo had started another lecture.

"Why is it my responsibility all the time? You try telling her!" Mike argued.

"Because she is your daughter!"

"So? We're a clan! You know, sometimes I had to discipline Gabriel and Diana," Mike said, trying to remind Leonardo that his children weren't saints themselves. The blue-wearing turtle huffed in defiance.

"That's not my point. Iris only listens to you!"

"Great! Just great! So now raising Iris is completely my responsibility? You know, I always felt that Iris and I were outcasts. Now thanks to you I now know that I'm not paranoid!" Mike growled, getting stuck into another issue entirely. It was true how he felt. Although Venus and Leo had agreed years ago that they would raise all the children as a clan, they still had a natural tendency to favour their own kids, Diana and Gabriel. Iris, being created from artificial insemination, had always been treated like an outsider, though Leo denied Mike's claims. Her somewhat unique and adventurous behaviour didn't exactly make her any more favourable to the others either. Yet Michelangelo held an unfathomable amount of love for his daughter, and so whenever she was ostracized, he felt like has was being picked on as well.

"What?" Leo questioned, getting both confused and alarmed at what his brother had just said. "I never said that!"

"Yes you did! You practically admitted that I had to take care of Iris myself!"

"No I didn't! I merely just suggested that-"

"-Suggested? It didn't sound like a suggestion to me!"

"Look!" Leo bellowed, causing his brother to fall silent. "This bickering is getting us nowhere. Let's just find her already," the turtle tried to be productive.

"Don't worry about it… I'll find her myself."

"Mike-"

"-I need the exercise anyway," Mike stopped Leo's objection mid-sentence. Leonardo no longer argued and instead just let his brother go off in search of his daughter. He knew that Mike had conflicting opinions about Iris. On the one hand he wanted his daughter to be fully accepted, and for her to be as controllable as her half-brother Gabriel, thus wishing his clan's full support. Yet Mike also wanted to be the one responsible for taming her childish ways, as though he was proud and honoured in the fact that Iris only trusted him. So Mike had the hard task in developing a special bond with his daughter, yet at the same time wanting the rest of the clan to participate in her upbringing as well. At that current moment, Michelangelo felt ashamed by his daughter's irresponsibility and wanted to take it upon himself to bring her back, not wanting her to be a burden to the rest of the family. It was a warped and often bamboozling way of thinking, but being a father himself, Leonardo knew exactly why Mike flipped and changed his reasoning so often.

Relieved that action was being taken, Leonardo decided to use his free time to lie down for a few moments, as he knew that he wouldn't get much rest when Iris returned. Grumbling to himself, he stalked back off to his own private area causing Venus to look up from the old, tattered novel she was reading. "Trouble in paradise?" Venus inquired with a small smile when she noticed her husband's displeased facial expression.

"Isn't there always?" Leonardo sighed as he dropped down to sit beside the female turtle. He stayed silent for a few moments while he watched Venus slowly scan her eyes down through the words before tentatively flicking over the page. "You've read this book before," Leo remarked, recognising it from its size and font.

"I like this one," Venus said simply, continuing on with her reading. Leonardo started to calm down while he admired his wife's delicate features, cherishing her focused brown eyes and even appreciating her slender green finger that was following the words as she read them. Wondering why he was staring, Venus' gaze lifted from the pages of the book for a few seconds.

"Iris has run off again," Leo seriously informed her, feeling that since Venus was her mother, she had a right to know what was happening. Venus heavily let out her breath while slowly closed the book.

"So what else is new?" she quietly wondered.

"You tell me," Leonardo looked at her intently, referring to another topic. With sadness etched in her face, Venus locked eyes with Leonardo once more.

"I'm not pregnant," Venus regretfully admitted. Leo sighed and Venus immediately knew that he was disappointed.

"I just don't get it!"

"Get what?"

"It just… It just seemed so easy before," Leo whispered, feeling rather insecure.

"I am getting older… It'll just take time," Venus verbalised, offering a reason for her infertility. Over the past few weeks Leonardo and Venus had been trying to conceive another child, obviously with no results. While at first their attempts revitalized old feelings that they had forgotten, as the days flitted by, they soon grew frustrated with each other. There was an unsettling amount of insecurity between the two turtles as neither really knew why they received no results. Venus had an inkling as to why she wasn't conceiving, however she didn't want to admit what she was thinking. "…Are you sure you still want this baby?" Venus timidly questioned.

"Yes, of course!" Leo was shocked that Venus even had to ask. There was a long pause and Leo grew worried that his last comment might have been insensitive to how Venus felt. "Well… do you still feel the same way?" Leonardo quietly wondered, hoping that Venus wasn't just trying to make him happy.

"…Yes, I do," Venus said after a small pause, though she didn't sound as enthused as her husband. "Maybe we should ask Don about it… He might be able to tell us what's wrong," Venus offered. Leonardo firmly shook his head.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Well, quite frankly, I don't think it's his business," Leo muttered while standing up. Venus bit her lip as he started to pace around the small cave.

"But Leo… he might be able to test a few things for us…" Venus nervously said, knowing that it was a touchy subject for most males.

"What? But the problem could be you!" Leo was startled at the thought.

"It might be… But it's just easier to test the guy first," Venus tried to reason with him from her spot on the ground. Frustrated, Leo sighed and stopped pacing.

"Venus… I just don't feel comfortable about, that's all," Leo admitted softly. "We'll just keep trying, okay?"

"Okay," Venus said softly. Leo bent down and kissed her on the forehead, going into a kneeling position after he did so. He gave her a small smile, which was immediately returned by the female. Although they tried to look happy in front of each other, neither of them could deny the amount of frustration they hid underneath their perfect grins.

__

To be continued…

Author's Note: Once again there was going to be more to this chapter but it ended up being cut because of it's length. Sorry if things seem a little slow; I've got quite a lot of characters to introduce into the story! So hopefully, with luck, the pace will pick up a little more in the next chapter.


	3. Parenthood

Chapter Three: Parenthood.

The sun felt so warm against her tanned, freckled face. A quiet grin emerged as she soaked up the forest's tranquillity. She loved how the leaves spiraled down from the large expanse of the canopy, slowly falling to sit beside her on the ground. The dirt smelt so fresh and cool from the rain that dripped down the night before. Laying on her carapace, Iris stretched her arms above her head while at the same time elongating her legs, feet then toes till she felt a wonderful and rather refreshing tingling sensation. Contentedly exhaling, the turtle rested her hands again on top of her plastron and lazily blinked at the sky above, slowly observing the tops of the trees.

She adored the moments that she could spend with herself. Iris firmly believed that she was the only one who stopped to take notice of the world they lived in. Everything was so intriguing, so beautiful, from the shade of green underneath the ferns, to the sodden, wrinkled wooden texture of the bark on the trees. Closing her eyes again, Iris deeply breathed in and out. She was at peace. The forest was her playground.

Completely relaxed, Iris eventually stood up and awkwardly brushed off the moist dirt that had clustered on the apex of her carapace. Without warning she suddenly raced through the forest, rapidly remembering what both Leo and her father had taught her and kept placing her steps slightly off to the side so that she wouldn't be tracked easily. As she leapt and bounded, the fresh grass beneath her feet sprung back up, leaving no trace. She giggled, almost feeling invincible.

Iris stopped when she discovered a lone coconut tree. Her eyes followed the line of the trunk as it gracefully tilted to one side as if pursuing the rise and fall of the sun. Intrigued by the slender tree's curious shape, Iris started to climb it. It was only Raphael and herself who had the ability to climb trees. Raph had been able to do it since he was a child and he somehow managed to maintain that talent through to his adult life. Raph mainly scaled the tall trees so he could fetch ripe coconuts for his family. Iris on the other hand, started climbing purely out of boredom. Michelangelo had tried a few times, however his cumbersome shell was too heavy and awkward for him to get very far. Gabriel and Diana simply weren't interested and thought that the activity was too dangerous. Yet despite the obvious risks, Iris still loved the thrill she received when she reached the leafy summit.

Carefully walking up the first few feet of the sloping trunk, Iris soon changed tactics and bent down and hugged the tree, slowly sliding up to the top. Once there, she slid both legs to one side, letting them dangle in the air while her arms developed a dull ache from supporting her whole body weight. From there she looked at the ground. It was a long drop. She would definitely break a limb if she were to fall. Her heart beat faster. Adrenaline was released into her body. Iris smiled at the rush she felt from the immediate danger. She found it somehow refreshing, as though she could look at life and nature in a new perspective from her precarious position.

Finally getting too sore for comfort, Iris nimbly lifted her feet back up and carefully descended down the rather smooth trunk. She then started to skip, swinging her arms around along with the momentum of her leaping body, trying to allow blood back into her tingling fingertips. Iris left the bush path and traveled in a random direction, though instinctually she knew whereabouts home lay. The little yellow bandanna-wearing turtle slowed down when the land took a sudden descent. Wanting to explore further, she carefully plodded along until she came to a rocky overhang. Creeping forward she moved onto the rocks and looked down at the sharp drop below. Her eyes opened wide in surprise when she realised she was on top of a steep cliff. Wanting to be safe, Iris laid down on her plastron and slid forwards to the edge so she could look down at the treetops below without the risk of falling.

For a whole minute she just stared at the world below. Then, on closer inspection, she noticed a small track of land just under the overhang where she was situated. Her eyes followed the natural pathway and she soon discovered that the pathway joined back up to the top of the cliff. Eager and daring, Iris stood up and tried to climb down the rocky overhang; her feet dangling in midair just like how they were before on the coconut tree. With almost no effort at all, Iris swung forwards slightly and dropped onto the dirt track below. Iris giggled and grinned at the new little secret area she had discovered. Reaching up, she dragged her fingertips along the rocky ceiling, remembering where she had just been standing a few seconds earlier. Iris decided to make a mental note about the place she had discovered, knowing that no one would ever expect her to be underneath an overhang on a cliff.

With extreme caution, Iris shuffled along the small dirt path and gradually made her way back up to the top. Feeling only slightly lost, the female turtle headed in the general direction of where she thought the lair would be. To her relief she soon found one of the clan's grassy tracks and quickly began to follow it. Iris froze on the spot when she heard a murmuring conversation. She hurriedly ducked behind a nearby tree, yet she was too late. She had been spotted.

"Iris? Is that you?" Don called out, ceasing his lesson with Gabriel. A freckled green face with a yellow bandanna popped back out from behind the tree. Donatello frowned while Gabriel sighed at his half-sister's disobedience. "Your father's worried sick about you!" Don scolded, approaching the carefree girl.

"He is?" Iris questioned, as though she was oblivious to the fact that it was wrong to venture off into the woods by herself. She felt that she had done it enough times for the family not to worry. After all, she always returned home.

"He's been looking for you since lunch time! What have you been doing?" Don questioned. Iris sucked at her bottom lip and shrugged her shoulders, causing Donatello to frown once again. "Well go back home this instant!" Don said, though it was beginning to sound like he was pleading for her obedience. He wanted to personally escort the girl back to the lair, but Iris knew her way home and he was currently in the middle of teaching Gabriel. Don felt that it was unfair for the boy's education to be disrupted because of his sister's inability to do the correct thing and stay at home. "Your father will probably find you along the way," Don said, pointing down the path. It wasn't too far away, but it was long enough to waste his precious lesson time. Don acknowledged that it was irresponsible of him, but he knew that Michelangelo would no doubt intercept the girl on her way home. While Leonardo always stressed the importance of staying at the lair, Don knew that the part of the woods they were currently in weren't particularly dangerous anyway.

Looking at the ground in shame, Iris sheepishly did what she was told and begun to follow the track back to the lair. Don sighed and smiled, somewhat surprised by the girl's lack of rebuttal. "So… where was I?" Don asked Gabriel.

"The genes of peas," the boy replied quietly. Gabriel was a quiet and often mysterious young turtle. Family members like Raphael quite regularly joked that the boy was scheming something sinister because of his black bandanna and silent disposition, however everyone knew that deep down Gabriel was an honest and truthful young soul. He was always interested in his studies and his attention never seemed to stray from a task, causing Donatello to like the boy mainly because Gabriel reminded Don of himself. The only problem was that Gabriel wasn't a great conversationalist; it would be rare for him to string together two or more sentences. He was short and to the point with his words, and sometimes that frustrated Donatello because he desperately would love to engage in an intelligent scientific discussion with the boy. Yet regardless of the silence, Don somehow still enjoyed Gabriel's company nonetheless.

"Oh, right! Gregor Mendel's pea experiment," Don remembered where he had stopped his speech before Iris had interrupted. Holding that thought, Donatello walked further down the dirt track and finally arrived at a rather large crop area. "They should be fully grown now," the adult eagerly anticipated as he neared the pea plants with Gabriel following closely behind. Eyeing the growing crops, Don smiled smugly to himself when he saw that his results were exactly the same as the first geneticist's. In front of him were four tall pea plants that were produced from breeding a tall plant and a short one. "So what was your hypothesis again?" Don asked with an all-knowing grin.

"That the second generation would grow to be medium sized," Gabriel reminded his uncle while looking at the crops with a frown on his face. The boy sighed, knowing he was proven wrong. Don chuckled, absolutely loving his job as a science teacher, especially when he could observe his student's shocked and confused expression.

"Genetics doesn't work like that," Don said. "Today I plan to teach you just the basics about dominant and recessive genes," the adult stated. Donatello paused for a few seconds, hoping that he wouldn't make his nephew too confused. While Gabriel wasn't really old enough to learn this level of science, Donatello thought that he should at least try anyway, especially when it was relevant to their species. "You see, most physical characteristics are determined by our genes, like hair colour, eye colour, skin colour, you get the idea. Now for every one of these characteristics, two genes are needed, one from each parent. Now here's the tricky bit. Some genes are more… 'powerful', or rather dominant over others," Donatello generalised.

Keeping his eyes excitedly glued onto his nephew, Don pointed to the first generation of pea plants. "Now with the peas, one plant obviously has, what I will call, the 'tall gene', while the other has the 'short gene'. So obviously, when these plants had seedlings…" Donatello suddenly pointed to the second generation of peas mid-sentence. "…the offspring will get one gene from each parent; one tall and one short. However as you can see, all of the second generation plants are tall. This is because the 'tall gene' is more dominant over the 'short gene', and sort of overrides it. In this scenario, the 'short gene' is what's called recessive," Donatello said with a smile. Gabriel gave him a simple nod, demonstrating to his mentor that he was still following.

"Now it gets harder still. The 'short gene' hasn't disappeared or anything. It's still there, but it's just not showing physically. So if we were to breed from two tall pea plants like these where they both have one dominant 'tall gene' and one 'short gene', then there's a twenty-five percent chance the pea plant will be short. When we get back to the lair I'll show you how to calculate it by using what it called Punnett Squares," Donatello concluded.

"So are recessive genes bad?" Gabriel wondered.

"Um… not necessarily. The reason why we have different types of genes is to allow for diversity," Don said, Gabriel gave him a confused look. "Oh, okay… Um… Well, lets say that if everyone had exactly the same genes as each other, then if a new disease appeared it could wipe out the whole species. If everyone had different genes, hence different genetically, then there's a chance that there'll be someone who'll survive because they're naturally immune for some reason or other," Don clarified.

"But with saying that, there are some diseases out there that are passed on genetically, like from parent to child. Usually these diseases are because a person has two recessive genes for something. So yeah, sometimes recessive genes can be bad. Though there are dominant gene related illnesses as well," Donatello tried to explain, though he ended up talking in circles. Gabriel nodded, not understanding everything, but learning the general gist of it.

"What type of diseases?"

"Um… albinism is one. It's not really a disease as such, however it can make an animal stand out in front of predators. Albinos generally develop poor eyesight and are susceptible to sunburn as well. It's caused by someone having two recessive genes".

"Albinism?"

"You know? White skin, pale hair, sometimes red eyes. Like those white furred, pink-eyed rabbits you see. Or like white peacocks. It's even been seen in humans. Apparently albinism can exist in every species."

"Even us?"

"Even us," Donatello concluded. Having no more questions to ask, Gabriel looked up at his uncle expectantly. "Okay, let's start to make our way back," Don sighed, saying it mainly to himself just to break the silence. After completing a quick health checkup on a few of the crops and harvesting a couple for their dinner, Donatello began to lead Gabriel home. The boy didn't say anything as they plodded carefully through the forest's knee-height foliage. Rounding the base of a large pile of boulders, Donatello grunted when he spotted Iris swinging from a nearby tree. The adult gritted his teeth, annoyed at how the little female obviously got distracted on her way home.

"Uh-oh!" Iris stereotypically gasped when she noticed Don looking up at her from ground level.

"Iris! Get down from there now!" Don barked, quite furious. Shocked by Don's unexpected show of anger, Iris immediately scrambled down the coconut tree. "I told you to go home!" Don yelled at the girl, wanting an explanation or at least an apology for disregarding his orders. However Iris never even had the time to open her mouth before another family member came running up the track.

"Iris! Where had you been?" Mike called out, sprinting towards his daughter, quite relieved. Iris stared at her feet, not knowing how to answer his question.

"Been playing. That's all," Iris muttered.

"I told her to go home ten minutes ago. Then I found her up a tree!" Donatello reported. Michelangelo frowned.

"Iris, I know I've taught you better than that," Mike said softly with disappointment, kneeling down so he could be eye-level with his daughter. When Iris didn't say anything in response, Mike stood back up and stared at Don. "Don't worry about it. I'll make sure she learns her lesson," Mike accepted the responsibility of disciplining the wild turtle.

"Um… Mikey… Don't take this the wrong way but… maybe I should punish her this time," Don requested. Michelangelo gave him an uneasy look.

"Why?"

"Well… I'm the one who she disobeyed. So if I discipline her, then she might respect me more," Don reasoned.

"But she listens to me."

"Well, all the more reason why I should take care of her this time," Don said. Michelangelo held onto his daughter's hand, as though she was expected to run off again.

"Sorry Don. I'm her father, so I should deal with her," Mike said before tugging Iris down the track.

"Mikey!" Don called out, jogging to catch up with him again. Gabriel followed. Quite irritated, Mike sighed and stopped walking with Iris in tow. "All I'm saying is that maybe you should include the family a bit more," Don explained further, eyes softening as he looked down on the little girl, just knowing that the problem wasn't going to go away with ease.

"Oh I'm just so sick of this!" Mike yelled, completely frustrated. "This morning Leo was on my back about how I should discipline her, and now you're lecturing how it's not all my responsibility! Can't you people make up your minds already!" Mike ranted. Don was so stunned at his outburst that he couldn't construct an immediate reply, allowing Michelangelo the opportunity to continue in unloading his frustration. "Well I've made up my mind! I've already agreed with Leo that I'll take care of her this time, and so I will! I'm her father and that's that! It's not like I have to include everyone else when I make a decision! Why do I have to consult others about these things? I sure as heck didn't hear you asking for the clan's opinions when it came to Sarah!" Michelangelo concluded his angry ramblings, including a personal attack on Donatello himself.

Don glared at his brother. "That's another issue entirely, Michelangelo," he seethed. Ever since Donatello received a certain email from Sarah containing only two words, Mike had held some animosity towards him. The incident happened years ago, but nothing was ever really resolved between the two brothers. At first Mike wouldn't even speak to Donatello, but as the days shifted by, the feelings of anger and betrayal began to quell. Some weeks would be better than others; sometimes Don and Mike were able to play cricket with one another just like old times, though other times Mike would feel rather bitter about what had happened and would bring up the argument all over again. Mike had stooped low with his last comment, and Donatello didn't appreciate it. It would seem that Mike would never let go of the issue involving Sarah, even though Don only wanted forgiveness. In reality, Don had already suffered enough.

Mike and Don glared at each other for a few moments, not having anything else to say. "C'mon Iris," Mike muttered, tugging lightly on the girl's arm before dragging her back towards home.

"He's just in a mood," Gabriel said in an attempt to cheer his uncle up.

"I know," Don murmured. The two turtles stood silently for a few minutes, as though waiting for Mike to disappear from view before traveling back home themselves.

* * *

It was only a few hours after lunch time, however the preparations for dinner had already begun. Diana watched silently as her mother skillfully cut away and cleaned the various vegetables that Don and Gabriel had gathered, before finally placing them neatly in a nearby cooking pot. Carrot and potato shavings littered the ground, which would later be used as compost and fertilizer for future crops. Nothing was wasted.

There was an unwritten schedule within the clan. Dinner had to be prepared early because it took a long time for the water to boil due to using solar power. Only in emergencies were fires lit. Diana didn't usually help her mother with the cooking, but today she had a few questions to ask so she could quench her curiosity's thirst.

"Can you pass me the fish, please?" Venus instructed her daughter. Diana obliged and handed her a small bucket full of fish that Raphael had caught earlier in the day. With intrigue, she watched as her mother slowly chopped and discarded the parts that couldn't be eaten. Like the rest of the scraps, they fell messily to the floor underneath what was used as a dining table. Large and made out of wood, the table had been exposed to the elements, and had swollen and eroded slightly over the years. Yet it was still strong and was used not only as a kitchen bench, but also as a place for Don to sit down and use as a work desk for when he was fixing his inventions. There were a number of stools surrounding the table, all of them stolen one night in a town raid for supplies. There weren't enough seats for everybody, but usually there was someone each night that wanted to eat in front of the television instead. The whole setup looked rather out of place in the middle of the woods, but the furniture added a much needed luxurious factor to their rather rugged lifestyle.

"…Mum?" Diana uttered, thinking about what had been plaguing her mind.

"Yeah?" Venus anticipated Diana's words.

"What's it like to have kids?" Diana finally asked. Venus continued to dissect the many small fish.

"To have kids?" Venus paraphrased mindlessly. As though the question had finally registered, Venus stopped her rhythmic chopping motion. "Why'd you ask?" she wondered.

"Just wondering, that's all," Diana answered simply.

"Well… It's very rewarding. Hard, but rewarding," Venus said with a smile, as though reminiscing her experiences. She soon returned to her task of gutting the fish.

"It must be a nice feeling," Diana commented with a wistful smile.

"Nice feeling? What do you mean?" Venus asked, not looking up from her work.

"I dunno. Just the feeling that they love you unconditionally. It must be nice," Diana said, explaining her thoughts. Venus raised an eye-ridge and stopped preparing the evening meal once again.

"…I wouldn't call it love. It's more… dependency," Venus clarified. "Well with babies it is anyway," she added.

"Babies can love, can't they?" Diana asked when her mother contradicted her own opinion about children.

"Well… I don't really know. There are different kinds of love. The love between two partners is completely different to the love that is shared within a family. It can change as well. Like for instance, when a baby begins to grow up and develop more of a distinct personality, you end up loving that child in a different way than before," Venus tried her best to explain.

"I still think that they can love you back," Diana stated, making up her mind about young infants. Venus gave her a weak smile, knowing that her words only became lost in the tangles of her daughter's growing mind. She knew what brought about these questions. Diana was finally trying to develop an opinion about the world and life as a whole.

Diana was a rather slim girl with fair reptilian skin. Her shell had only just started growing into a similar shape to Venus'. Being thirteen years of age, she was at the stage of her life where she knew all the facts, but simply hadn't refined her own conclusions. Venus knew that she didn't ask questions about babies because she was seeking information, but rather she only wanted her mother to confirm her own thoughts. Diana was finally an ambitious young girl who had only just started seriously thinking about her life's future, and it worried Venus that babies were already on her mind.

For Venus, thirteen was a tough age. It was the year where she developed a sense of national patriotism; when she began to worry about her appearance; the time when she first thought about her own spirituality and religion; the age when she began to know herself and prematurely feel that she was responsible enough to take on many hard tasks, and finally, it was when she started thinking about the opposite gender. Reaching puberty, it was natural for Diana to wonder about such things involving boys, relationships and children. Yet for some reason Venus was only saddened by her daughter's increasing maturity. Diana was no longer innocent. Unlike other teenagers, there were no cute high school boys to choose from, nor did they have to worry about being bred if merciless scientists caught them. It was simply the harsh reality of their life.

Pouring some water into the pot, Venus started to cook the various vegetables and fish. Diana silently watched beside her. The girl was so full of hope, yet she was so ignorant and incorrect about how their life was like, even though Diana would claim that she knew everything already. Venus sighed and hoped herself that her daughter would never experience first hand how harsh reality really was.

_To be continued…_

Author's Note: Hmm, these chapters seem to be always longer than I expected, so once again I had to stop it prematurely due to it being too long. Don't worry if you don't understand what's happened between Don and Mike, I'll reveal all of that later on. Anyway, I'm surprised I haven't really mentioned it yet (and don't hurt me when I tell you!), but from the 27th this month to the 20th of July, I'll be overseas touring Europe, so obviously I won't be updating for those three weeks. I'll try my best to update frequently up until then though. Also, if there were any weird, random letters in the middle of this chapter, just tell me and I'll fix them… my pet parakeet, Phoenix jumped all over the keyboard when I wasn't looking o.0!


	4. Coming of Age

Sassyblondexoxo - Yeah, I wouldn't want to be thirteen again. I remember that because I was technically a teenager, I felt like I was obligated to have more freedom. Heh, I remember saying to my parents something like 'I should be allowed to go out. I'm thirteen!', and now of course when I look back on that, I realise how young thirteen really was o.0!

Chapter Four: Coming of Age.

It was late in the afternoon when Iris and Michelangelo arrived back at the lair. Much to Donatello's surprise, his brother and niece didn't head straight back home after he had argued with him, but rather the pair took an improvised detour, obviously so Mike could have a few words with his daughter alone. However Leonardo still wasn't pleased, especially when he didn't know of their whereabouts for the past couple of hours.

"Where have you been?" Leo called out, crossing his arms when he spotted Iris and Mike finally emerging from the woods. When Donatello had returned earlier and stated that he thought that Mike and Iris should have been already home, Leo could only worry endlessly for their safety. Now all the anxiousness had swept out of his body, and only anger resided.

"I've been with Iris, hopefully teaching her some manners," Mike said indignantly, as though he thought that Leo should have already known the answer to his question.

"You've been out for hours," Leo stated, watching as the pair grew nearer and nearer towards camp.

"Yeah, well I had a lot to say," Mike rebutted, still tugging Iris along by her left arm. "Isn't that what you wanted?" Mike questioned with an underlying tone of annoyance. The turtle had experienced a rough day, where everyone had exposed their expectations and opinions of him and his daughter. The last thing he wanted to hear was another one of Leo's lectures. _'Can't I do anything right?'_ Mike bitterly thought to himself as he moved closer to the lair.

"Iris should have had a sparring lesson at four o'clock," Leo said with disapproval at the loss of time. Mike frowned.

"I thought that this was more important," Mike stated, finally arriving at the lair. Usually Iris would have bounded off and latched onto the first available person she could annoy, but this time she remained incredibly quiet and stayed by her father's side.

"Gabriel's been waiting for an hour," Leo murmured, eventually taking his focus off Michelangelo so he could look at the short girl by his side. Mike sighed and decided not to argue. Instead he wanted at least the rest of his day to be quite peaceful.

"Go on then," Mike pushed his daughter forward, gesturing to Leo that he could start his belated sparring lesson. Not saying another word, Leo nodded before calling Gabriel over to where he was standing. It wouldn't be long until the sun went down, and Leo knew that he was rushed for time, especially when he wanted to teach the two children how to prepare for battle. Leo sighed and rubbed his head. The fact that his lesson plan had to be adapted and edited so quickly only made him feel weary.

"Okay, you two. Go get your weapons," Leo instructed the pair of nine-year olds. Eager, they both ran off and fetched the objects that they were commanded to bring. Gabriel returned first, with his two shobos in one hand. The shobo was worn like a ring on the middle finger. Attached to the small metal band was a short plank of wood sharpened at both ends that rested widthwise across the knuckles. It was a weapon that could only be used at an extremely close range, which was good in Gabriel's case considering that he was quite adept at studying his mother's Shinobi Internal Arts.

Iris, however, returned carrying the more traditional ninja weapons; the bow and arrow along with the fukiya, otherwise known as a blowgun. The girl always had a natural talent for aiming and firing projectiles. Although everyone else in the clan only carried one type of weapon, it was Leo who decided to break this rule and allow Iris to master two. The fukiya was a lightweight weapon and was fairly straightforward to use, so he figured that Iris could learn to utilise the blowgun as well, just as a secondary precaution. The bow and arrow was her main learning focus though.

Knowing that his son needed mental preparation for the battle ahead, Leonardo gladly allowed Gabriel the time to meditate while he taught Iris how to make certain potions for her blowgun. "Can I make it this time?" Iris asked when Leo hurriedly walked over to the family table and started mixing together a few particular substances.

"If you arrived home earlier then you would have. But we don't have that much time tonight," Leo muttered as he swiftly but carefully added some water to his brew. "Do a few practice shots, will you?" Leo asked, though it was more of a command. Knowing what he meant, Iris trudged over to a particular tree that had a red bull's eye painted on its trunk. Standing quite a few feet away, Iris held her bow in her left hand, reached for an arrow behind her back, and strung the projectile up with ease. Breathing out steadily, she focused on her task and gently pulled back the flexible string. Her arrows were specially made, having suction cups stuck on where the sharp triangular blade would be. Not only was it for safety issues, but it was also adapted so she could use it in a sparring match without hesitation. Plucking the string with her two fingers, the arrow rapidly soared through the air and stuck onto the tree. It landed right on the circumference of the center red circle, slightly offside of what would be classified as a bull's eye. Frustrated, Iris told herself that it was only a practice shot and that she next arrow she fired would be the _real_ thing.

Grabbing another arrow and stringing it up, she sent it flying in a number of seconds. It landed on the wrong side of her previous hit, further away from the center. Iris frowned while trying to convince herself that she wasn't getting worse. '_That was only a practice shot_,' the turtle thought, not wanting to admit her mistake in not accounting for the pull of the wind. Wanting to get it right the next time, she hooked up another arrow and waited patiently for the breeze to die down. Iris let go when she instinctually knew when it was right. To her satisfaction, the arrow landed inside the bull's eye. It wasn't right in the center, but it was close enough for her. She smiled smugly to herself. Feeling warmed up, she skipped back over to her busy uncle.

"Almost done," Leonardo gave Iris a smile as he applied the newly developed potions to the tips of the blowgun darts. It was a rather potent formula designed to only make a person unconscious for just two minutes or less. It was an excellent way for Iris to practice using her weapon without having to worry about seriously hurting her opponent. "You ready Gabe?" Leo asked when he had finished preparing the fukiya. As he looked over to his meditating son, Gabriel slowly opened his eyes and rose from his lotus position on the ground.

"Yes," he answered simply, his gaze unwavering from a distant object, obviously trying to maintain the focus he had gained through his silent preparations.

"Good. Let's start," Leo said. "Iris, bow to your opponent," the teacher instructed after he gave Iris the darts he had dipped in his specially made potion. Once the two students had conducted the formal sparring etiquette, they were finally ready to begin. Curious, Raphael, Diana and Michelangelo sat nearby, wanting to be spectators for the match. "Hajime," Leo announced, officially commencing the fight.

As soon as the word was uttered, Iris dashed into the forest and hid behind the first wide tree she came across. Unlike traditional sparring lessons that were taken place in a dojo, the two children were allowed to utilise anything to their advantage, as long as they didn't go too far into the woods. Using the trunk of the tree as a shield, Iris swiftly hooked up an arrow ready to launch. Gabriel hadn't even moved from his starting position, and simply observed where Iris had run off. The girl frowned; since her half-brother was a close range attacker, she really thought that he would follow her into the woods where she could then use her knowledge of the land to her own advantage. The situation only made things more difficult for Iris, since being an archer, a lot of her strength needed to element of surprise.

Gabriel watched silently as Iris poked her head around the tree. She raised her loaded bow quickly afterwards, carefully taking aim. "That's my girl," Mike whispered to the other two spectators with a large grin on his face.

"Gabe's going down," Raph said with a smirk, looking at the match in front of him and predicting the outcome.

"He's planning something," Diana murmured, disbelieving that Iris could win so easily.

"Like what? He's doomed. Iris rarely misses a target that big," Raphael replied.

"Shh!" Leonardo hushed the commentators with an angry expression, knowing that both fighters needed to concentrate on their sparring. Suddenly, Gabriel started to move. Yet instead of moving closer towards Iris like everyone had expected due to his choice in weapon, Gabriel surprisingly traveled backwards. Reassessing the distance, Iris raised her bow higher and fired the arrow. Completely focused on the projectile, Gabriel shifted sideways once he knew where it was going to land. It missed but only by a few centimeters. The boy smiled smugly to himself. His tactic had worked.

Usually arrows were extremely hard to dodge and only highly trained ninjas could perform such a stunt. Yet thanks to Donatello's teachings, Gabriel had a basic understanding of the physics involved. The closer his was to the archer, the straighter and faster the arrow could fly. By stepping further backwards, Iris had to fire the arrow in an arc in order to hit him, thus taking a split second longer. Since the arrow was easier to see in that type of flight trajectory, Gabriel was able to roughly estimate where it was going to land and instinctively moved out of the way as fast as possible. Leonardo smiled when he realised what had happened. The scenario had drastically changed and now the boy had the larger advantage.

Needing to reload, Iris fumbled to grab another arrow. Her focus was shattered. She hadn't expected Gabriel to dodge the attack, and now she was slightly nervous and thrown off guard. Seizing the opportunity, Gabriel made a mad dash for the woods. By the time Iris had attached another arrow to the bow's string, she no longer had a clean shot. His body then disappeared from view. Pressing her carapace against the wooden trunk of the tree, Iris warily scanned her surroundings. Listening hard, she heard the faint rustle of leaves. Pinpointing the origin of the sound, she smiled slyly to herself when she caught sight of Gabriel once again. Wanting a cleaner shot, Iris used her talents to her advantage and started to climb the tree.

Iris sat on the first bough she came across, even though she wasn't very far from the ground. Gabriel was looking in another direction, giving Iris the time she needed in taking aim. Letting go of the string, the arrow ripped through the air… and passed right through her half-brother. Confused, Iris watched as the image of Gabriel faded, as though he was nothing more than a ghostly apparition.

A hand suddenly grabbed onto Iris' ankle. The girl gasped in shock as she was swiftly pulled out of the tree. With her shell breaking her fall, Iris quickly scrambled to her feet when Gabriel tried to perform a low sweeping kick. She knew she was now in danger of losing. Grabbing a dart out of her belt, she attempted to jab the boy in the shoulder with it so he would fall unconscious. Seeing her obvious move, Gabriel swung his right arm around and connected his shobo with the inside of her outstretched elbow, causing Iris to drop the dart as part of a reflex reaction. Unarmed, Iris knew she was defeated. In a quick series of movements, Gabriel finished the match. His foot accurately kicked her right thigh, his left hand knocked her upper left arm, while in his last strike he pressed his thumb against the side of her neck. Iris drew in a shocked breath of air when her muscles suddenly seized up, making her unable to move. Her body was frozen.

"Yame!" Leonardo called out, concluding the sparring lesson. The whole session had only taken a few minutes, but even those short moments were crucial in their development as ninja warriors. Matches between Iris and Gabriel were usually rather short in length as there were normally only two outcomes; either Gabriel succumbs to Iris' projectiles, or he gets in close enough to penetrate the girl's defenses.

Impressed but also slightly worried, the three spectators rushed into the woods to see if Iris was okay. Leo strolled after them. The blue-wearing turtle could only smirk at the girl's grumpy face. "That's my boy," Leo said as he gently placed a hand on his son's shoulder as a sign of admiration and pride. Stepping forward, Leo pinched Iris' left shoulder causing her muscles to instantly relax back into their normal state. Looking upwards at the darkening canopy, the turtles watched the silhouettes of various songbirds coming in to roost for the night. "Sorry, Raph. We won't have time for your sparring lesson against Diana," Leonardo apologised.

"That's alright," Raph sighed, understanding how pressed for time his dad was because of Iris' previous disappearing act earlier in the day.

"Maybe tomorrow morning?" Leo asked, looking at both of the older children. Diana and Raphael exchanged glances before nodding in agreement. Already planning the schedule for the next day in his mind, Leonardo headed back to the lair with Gabriel. Diana decided to follow them a few moments later.

"I can't believe I lost," Iris grumped, rather embarrassed by how easily she was defeated.

"Aww, don't feel bad about it. As long as you learn from your mistakes, then you will always have room for improvement," Michelangelo tried to cheer up his daughter, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her into a half-hug.

"He used some high level techniques this time…" Raph murmured to himself as he glanced around the woods as though he was reliving the fight again.

"Oh, yeah!" Iris suddenly remembered the question she wanted to ask. "What did he do? How did he disappear?"

"It's a Shinobi illusion called the Prism. It's to do with the displacement of chi energy. Basically it's where you can create mirage of yourself, so you can be in two places at once," Raphael explained. Iris pouted.

"Why didn't I learn that?"

"…I think you would have. Mum said that she taught it sometime last week in her lesson," Raph said, becoming confused. Iris frowned, but soon after her eyes widened in realisation. Raph raised an eye-ridge. "Maybe you should pay more attention in class next time," Raph smirked when he concluded that Iris simply didn't listen to her mother's lessons.

"So he only learnt it last week?" Mike wanted confirmation. Raph nodded.

"Think so."

"Gees he's keen. Using new techniques like that," Mike stated, finishing off his sentence with an impressed whistle.

"Dad… Is he better than me?" Iris wondered, getting worried that she was falling behind.

"No! Of course not!" Mike said even though he was biased in his opinion.

"He just outsmarted you that time," Raphael said, trying to boost her self-confidence but also remaining truthful at the same time. "You put up a decent fight against him, and you only put in half as much effort into your studies. If you practiced as much as Gabe, you'd beat him in no time," Raph analysed further. Yet it was a lot more in depth than Raphael had described their abilities. Gabriel attended Venus' teachings not just for fun like Iris did, but rather because he _had_ to. Being a close range fighter required a lot of attention to detail and study, which thankfully Gabriel had the time for. Pressure points and Shinobi tricks were his specialty and he simply didn't have the luxury of ignoring such important techniques. Although Gabriel might have seemed the better warrior, he still couldn't even compare to Iris when it came to long range weapons. It was true that Iris could only battle with a weapon; if unarmed then she'd be useless, yet that was her specialty, just like how Raphael preferred the sai and Diana fought with the kama. In the end they all had a particular fighting style and not one was better than the other. While they all specialised in one main form of combat, Leo hoped that one day the children would also benefit in learning the basics in a large variety of weapons, just like Splinter had originally taught his four young turtles.

Once the sun had slowly drifted behind the horizon, the turtles gathered around as a family and had dinner. It was a short affair with no disagreements or in depth discussions, just a light bantering full of jokes and entertainment. Leonardo sighed as he watched the family gradually move over towards the television. He remembered the days when technology hadn't been introduced heavily into the clan. Before bedtime, the turtles used to talk to each other, settle disputes, ask questions and develop not only a family bond but deep friendship as well. Leo frowned at the 'idiot box' that inadvertently caused the clan to sneakily drift into personal solitude. Sighing once again, Leo gave in and decided to join the rest of the family sitting in front of the television's dull illuminating hue.

"What are you watching?" Leo asked as he found a spot on the floor to rest. No one answered. Thinking that no one heard him, he was just about to ask it again when a belated answer finally came.

"Lost," Mike managed to finally register the question in his brain, send the required electrical impulses down to his mouth and then utter the one word. Satisfied, Leo watched the screen in silence.

"It's so obvious all this is shot on Hawaii," Don commented when a flashback sequence started.

"Why?" Mike asked, eyes still glued to the screen.

"Sydney doesn't look like that," Don said, criticising the scene. The family continued to watch the show for another few moments. "See that shot of the harbour? From that angle of the Opera House, the camera should be set up under the Harbour Bridge, not on a wharf… And they're not shrimps, they're prawns," Donatello rectified when he saw an establishing shot of a fish and chip shop.

"Alright Donny. Calm down," Leo said with a smirk as he rolled his eyes. It wasn't unusual for Donatello to get riled up about the inconsistencies on film or television. Sometimes his comments were indeed amusing, but most of the time he was rather nit-picky and somewhat annoying.

"I'm sorry Leo, but this whole show is highly improbable. Why haven't these people built a good shelter yet? Why haven't they banded together? Where are they getting all their food from? And why on earth are there so many Americans visiting Sydney all of a sudden?"

"What? It's not like Sydney doesn't get American tourists," Michelangelo started to believe that Donatello's claims were over exaggerated.

"Well, not really. You barely see any Americans. Most tourists come from Asia or Europe," Don clarified.

"This show gives me the creeps," Iris suddenly piped up.

"Why?" Mike inquired for the second time that night.

"I just want to know what that monster is," Iris admitted, rather scared by what she saw on television.

"…It's probably us," Raphael said with a grin. Donatello chuckled.

"Maybe we should phone up the producer and ask for a guest appearance," Michelangelo humoured him, continuing on with the joke.

"What else is on?" Diana spoke up, getting sick of everyone else's ongoing commentary. Curious himself, Michelangelo crawled forward and flicked through the channels. He came to rest on what looked like a movie. It had already started, but the plot was easy to pick up.

"Not a chick flick!" Raphael groaned.

"Nothing else on," Michelangelo muttered. The adults sighed when they realised that they were all doomed to watch the teenage movie.

The story line was bad. The acting was horrific. As though they had forgotten the tiff they had earlier, Don and Mike seemed to playfully banter about the travesty of a movie during the ad breaks. Yet the argument about Sarah was far from being resolved, and both brothers thought about the subject endlessly in the back of their minds. Donatello wished constantly for an apology that would never occur. Michelangelo ironically hoped for the same thing. Despite their difference in opinion, the two turtles seemed to safely blow off their hidden frustration by nit-picking movie and focusing their dislike onto the television.

However, not everyone in the clan hated the teen movie. Diana breathed out sharply in annoyance every time one of her uncles had something witty to say. Although she didn't want to admit it, for some reason she felt she could connect to the movie's basic themes. It was a simple 'boy meets girl in high school' flick, yet for some reason Diana's extreme interest only grew as the film progressed. As the teenage romance blossomed, Diana could only fantasise what love would be like. She watched with longing eyes as the couple on television hugged and kissed each other. Diana wanted to experience it, to know what it was like to be loved unconditionally in return.

As she observed the candlelit dinners, the notes being passed in class, and the physical contact involved, Diana could only think that this was normal in the forbidden world of humans. Then, like in most typical high school romance movies, the token sex scene followed right after a conversation where both protagonists admitted their love for each other. For Diana, the gesture was one of 'true love', something which she hoped to encounter in her own lifetime. The adults, however, rolled their eyes and were just glad that they managed to chase Gabriel and Iris off to bed beforehand. Diana didn't know if it was curiosity or a primitive natural desire to find love, but watching the movie despite its blaring flaws made Diana wistfully ponder about another part of life that she wasn't accustomed to, but so desperately craved nevertheless.

A cold breeze suddenly whispered through the forest. As the night air grew colder, Diana wriggled in closer towards Raphael. A few minutes later, the red-wearing turtle placed his arm behind Diana, combining three functions; supporting his weight, drawing warmth from his half-sister, and lastly giving the female turtle a friendly one-armed hug. Although all of his intentions were completely innocent, for one of the first times in her life, Diana began to ponder on whether there was another meaning to his gesture. Was he just trying to keep warm… or was it simply his way of being affectionate? The turtle's mind started to drift away from the movie so it could wonder about the mysteries surrounding Raphael. After minutes of speculations, Diana mentally cursed to herself, quite annoyed that she was getting so rapt up in such silly theories. It was quite obvious that Raphael was cold. Or was he? Diana was so intent on reading into meanings that simply didn't exist that she didn't notice that she had a secret admirer of her own.

Michelangelo contentedly observed her from his spot of the ground. By now Don had stopped critiquing the movie and had resigned to allowing his mind to become brain dead as he watched the moving figures on the screen. Along with the youngest two members of the clan, Leonardo and Venus had also decided to move off and go to bed, leaving the rest of the family to finish off watching the film. Not really paying attention to the movie, Mike's gaze continuously flicked between the television and Diana. It was as though he couldn't help but stare at his niece, however when he did allow himself the privilege, he felt too ashamed and turned his attention back towards the film again.

He never used to view Diana that way. Years ago the girl was simply a treasured family member; the daughter of the clan's leader, Leonardo. Yet over the past few weeks Diana had intrigued every inch of his mind, even though he never would admit it.

Michelangelo had loved three women in his life; April O'Neil, Venus and Sarah Watson. All three never returned the same feelings. All three chose another man to be with. Since Iris was directly related to him, making her _completely_ out of the question when it came to romantic possibilities, that left Diana to be the sole remaining available female. Although he was twenty-four years older than she was, Mike could already see the features within her that had once attracted him to Venus. Seeing her huddled up beside Raphael, Mike shamefully admired her fair skin, slim legs and petite facial features. She really was becoming a woman.

Disgraced by his feelings, Mike snapped his attention back onto the television screen, though it didn't take long for his mind to travel away from the melodramatic teenage acting again. He knew that he was only asking for trouble. He knew that just like the others, his love would never be returned. It had always been assumed that Diana and Raphael would eventually pair up, mainly because of their similar ages and lack of options, despite the fact that they're connected by blood. Likewise it was possible for Iris to hook up with Gabriel, though Mike had always thought that pairing was rather hilarious. Yet even though Michelangelo and Diana were totally unrelated, no one else in the clan had ever considered the possibility of a relationship between them.

Being like a brother to Leo, and with Diana being the leader's daughter, was it social taboo to even think about such things? In human society the age difference alone would be considered immoral, not including the fact that Diana was also his unrelated niece. But despite all the horrible flaws, Mike couldn't ignore the sick voice in his head that kept telling him that the match made _sense_, both genetically and for the species' sake. It was physically possible, but were the turtle ready to make that leap into the gray area of what was morally acceptable? Were they ready to deny their human ethics and step closer into the world of beasts? They had the means, but they didn't have the heart.

As the movie dwindled to a close, the television was turned off and everyone headed over to their beds. Through some extraordinary luck that they had experienced years ago, the turtle family had discovered a vast and deep cave system woven through the pumice filled mountainside. The clan hadn't explored how deep the twisting caves went, preferring to keep to the safety and shelter of the mouth of the dank openings instead. Some were simply alcoves while others lead into the dark unknown. The adults tended to occupy the ones that seemed to be doorways into more dangerous territory, with Leo and Venus living in one together. Michelangelo shared his 'room' with his daughter, while Diana and Gabriel bunked together as well. Raph and Donatello were the only ones who had their own private bedroom.

Quite far away, as if it was in another cave system altogether, Leonardo and Venus had finally laid down to rest after calmly talking with each other for a good hour. Getting comfortable, Venus closed eyes and awaited sleep to overcome her senses. She sighed as Leo gently draped an arm over her from behind and started to tentatively kiss her neck. "Not tonight, Leo," Venus murmured, eyes still closed. He stopped kissing almost immediately. Hearing Leo's body shift and change positions, she could tell that he was quite irritated with her request.

"Why not?" Leo inquired while he traced a finger along the rim of her shell.

"It's not as though I'm going to get pregnant. Not this time, or the next time," Venus muttered, obviously rather bitter about the constant attempts of procreation.

Leonardo scoffed at her reasoning. "Well at this rate of course you'll never get pregnant!"

Venus suddenly rolled over so she could look her husband in the eyes. "I just want a break tonight, that's all," Venus said, hoping that he would understand. Leonardo sighed, already knowing how she felt. Even he couldn't deny how it sometimes felt more like a chore instead of an act of love. Not only was it frustrating, but also confusing as one of the most fundamental actions of all began to feel unnatural. Thinking that her husband respected her decision, she affectionately gave him a sweet kiss on the lips. "Thank you," she whispered.

Leonardo gave her a small smile in return. "Don't worry about it." Although Leo had reassured her that it was okay, she still continued to stare at him.

"Are you sure? I mean… I'm sorry. I hope things won't be…" Venus trailed off. She felt horrible that she had rejected his advances despite the fact that she loved him deeply.

"Venus," Leo started, his voice taking a rather serious tone. "It's okay," he reassured her once again.

"It's just… It's just that I feel so tired lately," Venus admitted. "I've got so many things on my mind at the moment," she continued to excuse her behaviour.

"Like what?" Leo was both curious and concerned.

"Diana," Venus stated simply.

"What about her?"

"I don't know. I guess it was just something she said today," Venus tried to pinpoint the moment when her worries started. "I think she's finally growing up," the mother sighed, feeling as though she was slowly losing her little girl.

"She's come into season," Leo said, directly attacking the problem. Venus stared at him with a mixture of shock and disbelief, as his observation was rather brash.

"How… how do you know?" Venus wondered if it was true.

"Well… I am a male after all," Leo reminded his wife of the obvious fact. "It's with all the pheromones and whatnot," he explained with slightly more clarification. "You shouldn't worry about her."

"I wish I had your confidence," Venus muttered.

"Why? …Venus, what's bothering you?" Leonardo softly asked, wondering what the cause was for all of her doubts and fears.

"It's just a delicate time for her," Venus admitted.

"I'm not saying that her teenage years are going to be easy. But it's not like we can stop it. We just have change and accept the fact that she's turning into a woman," Leo tried to reason with Venus. He could understand a part of his wife's fears. Yet with any child there always came a day when they no longer required their parent's protection, as they evolved into adulthood in what seemed like a blink in time. It was sad for a mother and father to admit that their child was not longer dependent on them, but it was just the way life had to be.

"It's not just that," Venus whispered. Leo stared into her troubled eyes, anxiously awaiting her next sentence. "What if we get caught? Leo… you know what they're going to do to her."

Leonardo sighed, his face was stern. "I won't let that happen," the man stated, making a vow to Venus. Although his words still managed to comfort her, she knew that she couldn't possibly expect Leo to uphold his promise. "In the meantime, let's just hope that she gets a good adolescence," Leonardo concluded, wanting to be optimistic. Hearing his words, Venus knew that he was right and that she shouldn't be focusing on the negatives. Puberty, after all was just another stepping stone in life that shouldn't be feared, but rather welcomed.

__

To be continued…


	5. Warning Sign

Chapter Five: Warning Sign.

The sun was only a shimmer of an arc in the sky when the turtle clan slowly stirred from their slumber. Raphael yawned before swinging his arms around while jumping up and down, as though he was trying to keep warm in the morning's constant shivering breeze. Diana slowly paced in front of her half-brother, huffing into her clasped hands so she could feel the heat return to her chilled fingers. Although it was early, it was almost time for the sparring match that Leo had promised them.

Diana glanced sideways at Raph as he bent and stretched in a number of positions in preparation for their battle. He had a slim build. Skinnier than what his uncles and father had been when they were at his age. It wasn't as though Raphael didn't work out or wasn't as strong. He just had a better diet throughout his life, free from the fatty foods that the first generation had indulged themselves in.

Yet despite his different body build, Diana often heard from the older turtles in the clan that sometimes it was painful to speak to Raphael. He still looked like his deceased father. Most of the time the memories of their lost brother didn't surface in their minds during conversation, yet when Raphael said a particular phrase combined with a particular expression, he sometimes gave his parents and uncles the chills. Sometimes the teenager acted like an exact replica of his true father, but others times he was simply himself. Diana could never understand why certain seemingly innocent phrases would shatter her parent's and uncle's focus and rattle their nerves. To her, Raphael was Raphael, no one else. He provoked no uneasy feelings, as she simply never knew his father.

As she bent downwards and elongated her leg so she could start stretching as well, Diana continued to sneakily spy on her half-brother. She admired his muscles as he flexed and straightened them in preparation for the fight ahead. His eyes were a deep brown, and were what she considered kind and oddly mysterious. His face wasn't scarred and his smile was charismatic and filled with personality, expression and most of all, intrigue. She liked the way he innocently pranced as he practiced a few moves with his twin sai. Diana blushed in shame when she realised she had been staring at Raphael with immoral intentions. While a part of her knew that it was wrong, she couldn't help but feel attracted to him in another way that was completely separate to her love for him as a sister. In a way, her new feelings almost grossed out her practical and logical subconscious voice, but for some reason her thoughts also seemed rather… natural.

"Are you ready?" Leonardo's question jolted Diana out of her internal conflict. Slightly startled by his sudden words, she gave her father a weak nod. "Alright you two. Let's get started," Leo announced. As though performing a dance routine that had been practiced and rehearsed since their childhood, Raph and Diana bowed to each other and prepared their weapons ready for combat as though they didn't even need to think about it. Everything just came automatically. "Hajime!" Leo called out with excitement. Like circling vultures, the spectators swooped in and occupied front row seats. Although they were also tired, Iris, Gabriel and Michelangelo didn't want to miss the match.

Still rather rapt up with her contrasting thoughts on her opponent, it was Raphael who landed the first hit. Diana stumbled backwards but managed to stay on her toes when she took the brunt of Raph's forward flying kick. Winded, sucking in a deep breath, Diana gripped her sickle-shaped kama tighter and rushed closer towards the red-wearing turtle. Raphael and Diana's sparring matches were always interesting, since they both wielded weapons that had the ability to disarm their opponent.

Raphael tried to gain ground, but he ended up having to back away in defense. He attempted numerous times to swing at her with his twin sai, but Diana repeatedly stepped forward, continuously striking her kama in a descending motion, always deflecting her brother's attacks and yanking them downwards. Left, then right. Then left again. The metal from Diana's sickle twanged and clashed against Raph's three prongs as the move was repeated over and over again. Someone needed to break out of the time loop.

Seeing that she had Raphael on the run, it was Diana who changed her tactic. Instead of simply swooping straight downwards with her strikes all the time, she altered her swings so that it swiped diagonally across from top left to bottom right. Yet her body continued on with its forward momentum, and Diana started to spin with an arm attacking Raphael every one-eighty degrees in her turn. With her weapons outstretched and her upper limbs locked, every full body twist she completed, the strike ended up being reversed, from bottom left to top right, as it was part of her natural momentum. Her movements were smooth and swift, becoming more like a dance than a fighting technique. Leonardo frowned at his daughter's choice in moves, feeling as though she picked the tactic out of style, and not because of practicality. Although the continuous build up of force made it harder for Raph to dodge her attacks, spinning always created a weakness, as not only was it hard to stop, but it gave her opponent a chance to attack her from behind and leave her disorientated in battle.

Raphael grunted as he frantically blocked his half-sister's constant barrage of attacks. He didn't know how long he could keep stepping backwards. His eyes widened with worry when he almost lost his grip with one of his sai. He needed to change the scenario so the fight could be in his favour. Seeing that he was running out of clear space and heading straight backwards into the woods, Raph literally leapt at the first opportunity he had by grabbing onto the trunk of the tree, used the vertical barrier as a quick leverage in height, before finally flipping over Diana. He was too slow.

Seeing her brother fly above her, in the midst of a spin, Diana let go of one of her kama, and caught it with the other - like two candy canes that were joined at the curvy hook. With the two sickles haphazardly linked together due to force, her two weapons combined now had double the length. Taking another spin, Diana suddenly bent down low and extended her leg in an attempt to perform a sweep attack. Her leg whipped across the ground right before Raph landed his flip, making it useless. But she followed up with a swing of her temporarily elongated weapon, causing the handle of the furthest kama to trip up Raphael. Diana finally completed her move by finishing her spin; yanking one of the kama upwards in order to dislodge and catch the free sickle by the handle with her spare hand.

Both turtles were dazed for a few moments; Raphael was disorientated from being swept to the ground after his flip, while Diana was just plain dizzy from all the stylish spins she had endured. Regaining her balance, Diana immediately leapt upwards, raising her weapons high, hoping to land on Raph's plastron in order to pin him to the floor. She had expected Raph to roll to the side or at least elevate his legs so he could kick her off her course, but instead he just let her complete the move. As soon as her foot landed on his plastron, Raphael grabbed her ankle. With great effort and some cautionary guidance, Raphael belatedly rolled to the side, causing Diana to fall to the ground beside him, although he made sure that she landed safely and didn't sprain her ankle in his grasp. Her kamas clattered beside her, just sliding out of reach.

Leonardo couldn't help but grin. Raphael was improvising. This wasn't anything he was taught in class, and because Diana relied so heavily on regularity, she suddenly froze up in panic, not knowing what to do. Surprised at her new predicament, Raphael rolled on top of her and pinned her to the ground. He was about perform a finishing move with a sai, but Diana managed to get her hands free. "Ow!" Raphael yelped when his little half-sister brought him into a wrist lock, making him drop his sai against his wishes. Thinking quickly, and because both of Diana's hands were busy incapacitating one of his arms, Raph swiftly placed the tip of his other sai under white-wearing turtle's chin using his spare hand.

"Yame!" Leo called out, finishing the fight as Raph's last move would have been considered lethal. Diana frowned while Raphael could only smirk in response. Yet the girl couldn't stay angry with him. She blushed in embarrassment when she rethought her moves in the sparring lesson, just knowing that she could have done something more. She had been practicing really hard over the past few weeks, but for some reason she froze up. It wasn't an unusual thing, and her father said that she would overcome it and fight naturally sooner or later, yet she didn't feel her problem would go away with time. Raphael was too unpredictable. Or was she simply distracted by something else that time? Despite the fact that she was in the midst of battle, there was something about Raphael that made her feel safe from harm. She knew he cared about her, otherwise he wouldn't have supported her foot properly when she fell over. Why did he finish the match so intimately? He could have easily rolled to the side and ended the fight at eye level. Diana watched as Raphael slowly got up from his position on top of her, offering her a helping hand to stand up as well. Was she reading too much into things? Did he have the same confusing feelings about her? Did he care for her in a brotherly fashion… or was there something else? Something… guilty?

Michelangelo clapped after witnessing a good fight. Standing up from his seat in the audience, he yawned before stretching his arms and fingers. Almost instantly becoming bored, Mike trudged his way to the opposite end of what was considered their lair. Although it was early, Donatello was already on his computer. "Can I use it for a sec?" Mike asked, pointing to the monitor.

"Yeah. I've gotta do something first," Don mumbled as he clicked a button on the web browser. Both turtles frowned as a new page loaded at the running speed of a sloth, thanks to having a wireless Internet connection.

"How long you gonna be?"

"Just a sec!" Don grew irritated, both at his brother's constant questioning and the fact that he wasn't getting anywhere fast. "I'm checking my email. Just wait there. I'll be done really soon, okay?" Donatello grumbled as he finally clicked his mouse again and typed in his password.

"Why? It's not as though anyone emails you," Mike stated with a cheeky grin.

"I join mailing lists," Donatello retorted with a scoff. Michelangleo sighed and resorted to pacing around the computer area while he impatiently waited for his turn. Don anxiously anticipated for the next page to load. He gasped at what he saw. His breathing was held up. His heart pulsated sporadically. He had only one email in his inbox. It belonged to a 'Sarah W'.

"Sarah Watson," Don uttered her name in a whisper. The turtle bit his lip in hesitation, not knowing if he should read the email. His hand quivered over the mouse as he questioned his next move. He remembered the message Sarah had sent him a few years ago. The one that changed his life forever with just two words; 'I'm pregnant'.

"Huh?" Mike asked after hearing Don's muted whisper.

"Sarah Watson… She's sent an email," Don said, looking rather overwhelmed. Michelangelo rushed over to the monitor so he could see the screen over Don's shoulder. The two brothers exchanged apprehensive glances.

"Well… open it," Mike said nervously. Don clicked on the mouse and the page started to load at what seemed an agonizing pace.

'Dear Donatello,

Next Monday I'll be in Hawaii as part of a holiday with my husband. I'll be staying at that camp just outside the woods. I'm sorry for the late notice. I wasn't sure if you wanted to see me again. I've been thinking about you and your family quite a lot lately, and I would love it if we could meet, just like old times. It'll only be a short visit, as I'll have to return to London because of my husband's job. Email me back if you want to organise a meeting place. I'd love to see the children again.

Love from Sarah.'

"Guess she's married now," Don sadly murmured, having mixed feelings about the news. Michelangelo felt awkward and preferred to stare at the ground after reading the computerised message. He didn't know if he wanted to see his old crush again. He didn't know if he could handle the resurrection of all his old emotions. Grunting, Mike slunk off into the forest, leaving his brother to ponder about his reaction to the topic.

* * *

Diana calmly walked through the woods, wondering if she could catch Raphael fishing in the knee-deep, slow flowing river. Yet as she carefully stepped over and through the ferns that littered the forest floor, she accidentally found someone else sitting along the riverbank instead. "Mikey?" Diana inquired as she cautiously approached her uncle. The adult turtle quickly turned his head in surprise to look in the girl's direction. Once the initial shock of suddenly hearing her voice was overcome, Michelangelo gave her a smile. Diana held a perplexed expression on her face when she noticed some black crumbs stuck in-between the grooves of his teeth. On closer inspection, she found a few slices of cake on her uncle's lap.

"Where'd you get that?" Diana gasped, rather fascinated. It was a chocolate mud cake, deliciously iced with white chocolate, with the last remaining pieces sitting neatly atop a plastic base, as though it was bought for four dollars or less from a supermarket. Although it was considered cheap and not the best of quality, it was still treated like a rare gem of scrumptious beauty. Mike could only grin once again.

"You want some?" he offered her a slice and a spot to sit beside him. Diana couldn't resist. Michelangelo watched in silence as Diana delicately popped the piece of cake bite by bite into her petite mouth. "I got it from the towns," Mike eventually informed her. Diana nodded, her mouth too full to say anything. "Well… actually I got it from a campsite nearby," the adult corrected himself. Diana finally swallowed her last bite.

"What's it like over there? Is it dangerous?" Diana curiously inquired.

"Nah, not really. It's harder to sneak around in the day, of course," Mike said as a gentle smile appeared upon his face. "But you shouldn't go over there. Not without me. You understand?" the adult reminded the teenager of the rules. Although he had done some irresponsible things, he still didn't want the younger members of the clan following the horrible example he had set. Diana nodded almost immediately, understanding the seriousness of the rule. Mike gave her a grin. "Okay," he said, quite assured that she wouldn't go against his wishes.

Suddenly Mike's eyes went wide and he abruptly took in a breath, as though he had just remembered something important. "Oh! I got you something!" Mike exclaimed, his whole body rattled with excitement. Diana watched as Mike pulled something rather large and flat out of the tight hold of his belt. It was a magazine. Cosmopolitan, to be exact. Diana gingerly reached out and stroked the glossy front cover as though it was the first one she'd ever seen. Correction, it _was_ the first one she'd ever seen. And now it was hers to cherish and treasure for years to come.

"Thank you," Diana whispered, quite touched by her uncle's thoughtful gesture. Until she had laid her eyes upon it, she never knew how much she wanted one. It was a piece of literature that she felt she could relate to. Emerging from childhood and entering the unknown territory of becoming a woman, Diana so desperately wanted to learn all about the new secrets involved with her new place in society. So many mysteries about guys, fashion and love were unfolded in its colourful pages full of photos, stories and quizzes.

"I knew you'd like it," Mike grinned, quite pleased with her reaction. Diana continued to admire the cover for a few more seconds. She wanted to flick through the pages and start reading it, but instead she remembered her manners and placed it gently to one side so she wouldn't completely absorb herself into its glossy texts and end up ignoring her uncle's company.

"Don said that Sarah's coming next Monday," Diana said timidly, only wanting to make conversation. She knew it was a touchy subject, but she was still curious to see what her uncle's reaction might be. Michelangelo stared off into the distance, not even flinching upon hearing the name of the one he used to love.

"Yeah," Mike muttered belatedly in response.

"You looking forward to seeing her again?" Diana inquired, squeezing the subject and pushing it along.

Michelangelo sighed. "I suppose so," he admitted softly. "It'd be nice to catch up again. Get to find out what she's been up to with her life," he added after a few seconds of silence.

"Do you still like her?" Diana innocently wondered.

"I think she's a great friend… but I don't think I'll be able to like her the same way, if you know what I mean," Mike murmured.

"You don't love her anymore?" Diana wanted clarification. Even though she was probing too far for answers, Michelangelo was somewhat appreciative that he had someone to confide in. He needed to heal, and somehow verbally assessing his problems out loud seemed to help his heart mend back to normal.

"…I don't think I do. Not now at least," Mike admitted. "Doesn't matter how I feel now anyway."

"So you used to love her then?"

"Why are you so interested all of a sudden?" Michelangelo wondered why the girl was asking so many personal questions, throwing the focus of the conversation back onto her. Diana shrugged and looked away, quite ashamed and guilty about the way she had interrogated her uncle.

"I just want to know what it's like to love someone," Diana blushed. Mike raised an eye-ridge at her innocent curiosity.

"So you want to know what it's like to be in love?" Mike reworded her query. Diana shyly nodded her head.

"Well… I guess it's kinda hard to explain. When you're in love… you never seem to stop thinking about the other person. It's like you're obsessed with them for no apparent reason. You're unable to focus on other tasks… but although your mind's at a standstill, you can't help but enjoy the feeling. I guess that's why they say love is blind. Nothing else matters except your partner," Michelangelo summarised with fond memories being reborn in his mind as he spoke tenderly to his niece. Diana's eyes twinkled with intrigue, absolutely longing to experience the strongest of emotions that everyone in the world has seemed to gossip about. Her thoughts slowly drifted back to Raphael.

"How do you know when you're in love?" Diana asked softly.

"Well, if you have to question your feelings, then you're not in love. I know this is going to sound cliché, but when you're in love, you just… know it," Michelangelo analysed. Diana smirked.

"It's as simple as that, eh?"

"As simple as that," Mike grinned. He couldn't help but secretly admire her brown eyes. Diana sighed and looked away absentmindedly, not noticing her uncle slowly edging closer towards her.

"I guess I'll just have to wait and find out what it's like for myself then," Diana distantly worded. Mike hummed in response. He questioned whether he should make a move or not. But why was she asking all the rather private questions if she wasn't comfortable around him? It was always going to be an awkward situation, so when was the moment going to be any better? As he spoke to her about love, he only realised how much he longed for it just like her. Mike knew that he couldn't deny his feelings. He didn't want to see if their friendship would develop any further first. That was the tactic he had followed when he was supposedly courting Sarah, and his plans never fluttered above the ground. He felt like he had been the last leaf in autumn that had stayed onto the slender twig for support, only to come out defeated, break loose and make a spiraling journey to the ground. He didn't want to lose again. He wanted to believe that he had another future. The time seemed perfect. Unfortunately he never thought about the consequences of his brash actions first…

Without warning, Michelangelo leaned in even closer to Diana, and before she could move away, he gently kissed her on the lips. The moment was brief. The pash was short. She had returned the kiss only slightly, before finally her senses woke up and forced her to abruptly pull away. As Michelangelo studied the expression on his niece's face, he knew he had made a horrible mistake. It wasn't a look of love. It wasn't even disgust. It was instead fear. Pure, unadulterated terror. Mike nervously stared into her horrified eyes, his mouth too flabbergasted to form any words or justifications of his behaviour. Terribly confused, Diana grabbed her magazine and bolted off into the woods.

"Diana!" Mike called out to her, hoping she might stop or seek an explanation. She never looked back.

* * *

"Iris!" Michelangelo called out in an urgent whisper. "Iris!" he called out again. He stealthily crept around the jagged pumice wall, hoping to find his little girl in their shared bedroom. Mike risked a glance and scanned his eyes across the lair. Raphael was the only one who was present, and he was thankful that the oldest boy was situated on the opposite side of their home. He counted himself lucky that everyone else seemed to be out.

Peeking his head around the mouth of the rather foreboding cave, Michelangelo sighed with relief when he found Iris soundlessly still on the ground, obviously having a midday nap. "Iris, wake up!" Mike whispered as he bent down and shook the child's body.

"Huh," Iris murmured, still keeping her eyes lazily closed. Stirring from her slumber, she turned her head and observed her father crouching beside her. "Dad?" Iris squawked tiredly.

"Come on. Pack your things," Mike instructed her, still keeping that tone of urgency in his voice.

"What?" Iris uttered as she wiped her eyes, still not completely awake. "Why?" she whined. As though she had just registered his request, Iris suddenly understood their situation. "What have you done this time?" Iris questioned, both concerned and annoyed.

It wasn't the first time they both had to leave the lair temporarily. When either one of them had been the sole cause of tension in the camp, Michelangelo had always insisted in traveling to the other side of the woods and return when things had calmed down. It was difficult living and socialising with the same people day in, day out. It didn't take much for discussions to be blown out of proportion. This time however, it wasn't just a simple spat. Mike had a feeling that he was about to face a barrage of insults and disgusted glares if he chose to stay any longer than a millisecond. It scared him that he didn't know when it would be safe to return back to his family. He knew that he had to face the consequences of his actions, he just preferred to avoid the instant backfire that was more than likely to happen, and instead hold out until his family developed a more rational approach to the problem.

Michelangelo hated putting his daughter through this. He felt like an absolute fool. Kissing Diana was one of the most idiotic things he had done. He felt so stupid that he hadn't even considered the outcome of his bold behaviour. In one simple movement, he had completely destroyed and obliterated the friendship and familial trust he shared with his niece. Instead he was left with a mutated and murky relationship with an indeterminate future. And yet what did he expect? Did he honestly believe that Diana would swoon with love for him? She was a thirteen-year-old who had just received her first passionate kiss… from her uncle. He didn't blame the girl for running off. Michelangelo was disgusted with himself, and he couldn't even imagine how the other family members would perceive him as.

"Don't worry about it. Just pack your things," Mike answered Iris' question. Relieved when his daughter obeyed his bidding, the two turtles quietly headed off into the forest, like two outcasts.

* * *

Leonardo stared up at the canopy and focused his gaze beyond that of the distant swaying leaves. The sky was already starting to darken. Leo instinctually knew that the sun would set in only a few hours… and Michelangelo and Iris were nowhere to be found.

"Have you seen Mike?" Leonardo questioned his wife and he walked through their home, always on the constant lookout for his brother and niece.

"Haven't seen him since this morning," Venus replied while beginning to prepare their evening meal. Diana's heart thumped with guilt as she stood beside her mother, pretending to help. Leonardo sighed and scanned his gaze across the rest of their outdoor home. Donatello popped his head up from behind the moss-stained computer monitor.

"I haven't seen him either," Don said, knowing that it would only be a matter of time before his brother asked him the same question. The purple-wearing turtle was starting to get worried as well.

Raphael and Gabriel were off to one side of their lair, almost completely out of their lair's 'boundary' and standing in what was considered the beginning of the woods. Raph was trying to teach the socially inept boy a few effective kicks to use in battle. Seeing that his dad was on the hunt, Raph stopped the unofficial lesson and started to casually walk closer into home. "I have," he announced, causing everyone in the lair to stop and stare. "I saw him probably just over an hour ago. He left with Iris," Raphael informed his family.

"Do you know where he went?" Leo interrogated. Raph shook his head.

"He didn't say anything, but he took a few things with him," Raphael explained in more detail.

"Leo…" Donatello started, standing up from his spot in front of the computer. His voice was flooded with concern. "…After he read that email this morning… you know, the one about Sarah… Well, he just sort of stormed off," Don said, suggesting a motive or a reason for his brother's disappearance. Leo frowned and raised an eye-ridge.

"Do you think he's still upset about it?" Leo gently inquired.

"Possibly," Don uttered thoughtfully.

"I don't think he's ever gotten over the whole incident with Sarah and Morpheus," Venus commented softly, almost as a whisper to her husband.

Donatello still managed to overhear her statement. The name sent shivers and memories filled with horror, pain, suffering and sadness down through his shell, reverberating inside like a sudden queasy illness. '_Morpheus_. _My son_,' Don thought morbidly. It was a name synonymous with regret. As soon as the feelings came, Donatello repressed them, and soon the emotions went back down into the depths of their little graves. "Someone should find him. Cheer him up a bit. Reason with him," Donatello suggested, already forgetting all the emotions surrounding the resurrected memories when Venus had mentioned his son's name.

"I'm sure he'll come back when he's ready," Leo stated.

"No, I really think you should check on him. If he's feeling that uncomfortable about meeting Sarah, then maybe we should just call the whole thing off. Maybe he needs someone to confide in…"

"Alright Don," Leo sighed.

"That person shouldn't be me, though," Don added sadly. "He won't listen to me. We'd only argue," he admitted truthfully, quite ashamed at how poisoned their friendship had become.

"I'll go then," Venus offered.

"I'll come with you," Leonardo ordered. Her husband couldn't tell, but Venus panicked for a few brief seconds after she heard his proposal. She knew that she needed company on her journey, but she also knew that Leonardo would want to discuss their infertility problems and how foolishly she had treated him the night before. For some reason, she didn't want to deal with those issues at that particular moment. She only wanted to focus on helping Michelangelo. In a way, she was sick of the topic. Tired of Leonardo's ramblings on how they should keep trying; never listening to her alternative of seeking advice from another source, namely Donatello. Venus knew she was due for another discussion about conception later on that night before they would go to bed, and she didn't need to hear about it any earlier. Talking about that uncomfortable and emotionally straining subject once a day was enough.

"Gabriel should come as well," Venus suddenly stated. Leo gave her a confused look. "He hasn't been shown a lot of the other tracks yet. Iris knows about them, but he doesn't," Venus verbalised her thought processes. Gabriel gave them a small smile upon hearing his mother's request. Leonardo glanced at the boy, knowing what his wife said was true - Gabriel didn't know a lot of the bush. He stepped forwards, closing the gap so he could mutter words into Venus' ear.

"But what if Mike wants to talk about… more serious issues?"

"But Iris will be there. At least Gabriel will be able to play with her or something if Mike needs some privacy," Venus replied. Leo sighed, knowing it all made perfect sense. He was still disappointed. His wife was correct; he did intend to talk about their marriage.

"Alright. Gabe, let's go," Leo relented. "If it gets too dark, then you might have to start a fire so we can find our way back easier," the leader instructed Donatello and Raphael. They both nodded. Without saying another word, the trio of turtles gracefully disappeared completely from view as they walked further and further into the lush forest.

Raphael, Diana and Donatello looked at each other in silence. With only the three of them at home, the lair seemed so quiet and almost as ghostlike as the mythical night marchers. "I'll finish getting dinner ready," Raphael mumbled his offer before slinking towards the table to continue preparing the salad and vegetables. Diana was about to follow but her uncle took hold of her trailing arm and stopped the girl mid-step.

"Can you help me with the firewood? I have a feeling Leo and the others are going to take a while," Donatello said. Diana nodded mutely and trailed after the purple-wearing turtle like a wandering, mindless zombie.

Hearing almost the entire conversation about Michelangelo, Diana couldn't help but feel partly responsible. She felt guilty, full well knowing that the reason Mike left with Iris wasn't because of Sarah's email, even though that might have hindered his wounds from healing, but rather it was because Mike was just as confused as she was about the passionate kiss he had given her earlier by the riverbank. Reading the hidden messages interwoven in Raphael's simple gestures seemed like a joke now to her, especially when her own uncle had just suddenly come outright and gave her the biggest sign of all. Yet the same questions remained. Why was he so intimate with her? What feelings did he have for her? And lastly… what did it all mean?

So confused was she, that she didn't even notice that Don had stopped to inspect some potential sticks to be used as firewood. Plodding along, eyes blinded by her internal chaotic thoughts, she walked straight into Donatello's shell. "Watch yourself!" Don yelped out instantly when the girl collided with him. Snapping back to her senses, Diana blushed, feeling like a dork. "This wood looks good," Don commented, pointing to some fallen branches and twigs. Gathering a bundle, Donatello was about to give them to his niece and collect some more, when he noticed Diana's vacant gaze. "Anything wrong?" he started to grow concerned.

The girl severely needed to tell someone about what had happened between herself and Mike. She didn't know if she should, yet she hoped that by telling another person, they would offer another perspective that she hadn't thought about before. With all honesty, Diana didn't have a clue about what was going on. Yet what she did know was that she was absolutely dying to confess that Sarah wasn't the reason why her uncle had run off. Before answering Donatello, she thought about her options. She didn't want to tell her parents about Michelangelo's intentions for intimacy, as she knew her father in particular would only become angry and thus make the whole problem worse. Iris and Gabriel were too young to understand, while with Raph she didn't want to admit that she had kissed someone else, and that her half-brother wouldn't be able do anything constructive with the information anyway. So that left Don to bear the brunt of her confused ramblings. A part of her didn't want to get Michelangelo into trouble, but she still wanted answers.

"Promise you won't tell," Diana said, heart thumping faster, not knowing what his reaction would be. She trusted Donatello, and she knew that with his pacifist personality, it wasn't that likely that he'd go on the warpath. Donatello held a solemn expression on his face, realising that he was about to hear something quite important.

"I promise."

"Uncle Mikey didn't leave the lair because he was upset about Sarah visiting us," Diana confessed that she had withheld some information.

"…Okay," Don said, not knowing what to think. "Then why has he run off?"

"…He kissed me…"

"What?" Donatello wasn't sure he had heard her correctly. When Diana broke his gaze and stared off at some distant tree trunk, her last words suddenly became clear in his mind. "Kissed you?" Don wanted clarification. Diana nodded, not knowing if she should cry or not.

"On the lips," she admitted, her voice extremely soft. She wanted to be ashamed of herself, or at least be angry with Mike, yet she was neither. Donatello gave her a blank stare. Diana stared at his face for a few seconds, trying to guess what he was feeling, yet she deciphered nothing.

As Donatello thought over what Michelangelo had done, he gradually began to comprehend his brother's logic. Although he certainly didn't agree with the extreme actions he took, a small part of his being could understand _why_ he had been so bold and reckless. Personally Donatello had never even thought of Diana any other way than her simply being his niece, though upon more thoughtful reflection, he could largely agree that any pairing with either Mike or himself would greatly help the species when it came to broadening the gene pool. Yet there still was the case of attraction, and Donatello already had difficulties in even trying to comprehend the mental leap that was needed in order to view his niece as a potential life partner. But he was vastly different to his brother, especially when it came to the ladies. Donatello had already been in a relationship - one that ended badly - but a relationship nonetheless, while Mike had only faced rejection, therefore making his desire to find a mate even stronger. Yet the fact still remained that Diana wasn't an adult, but rather a gullible newly developed teenager that had just been exploited.

"Diana… what are your feelings about this?" Don questioned, concerned yet curious at the same time. The girl wordlessly looked away again and shrugged.

"I dunno," she murmured after what seemed an eternal silence.

"Do you want me to do anything? Would you like me to confront Mike about it?" Once again the girl stayed silent. "What do you want me to do then?" Donatello asked.

"I don't want to get anyone else involved… I just wanted to talk about it, that's all," the white-wearing turtle whispered. Donatello gently held both of her shoulders with his two hands and gazed seriously into her eyes.

"If you ever have any questions, or you want to discuss something, you're always welcome to speak to me. Don't worry, I'll keep your secrets," Donatello offered and assured the girl his trust and friendship. Diana finally raised the sides of her lips, forming a tiny smile.

"Thank you." She didn't have anything else to say. Subconsciously Diana knew that Donatello wouldn't come up with any straightforward answers about Mike's kiss, but what she did yearn for was someone to listen to any problems she might encounter. Satisfied that Donatello was going to help her during the most confusing years of her life, the girl had nothing more to say at that moment. Feeling more secure than what she was before, Diana bent down and picked up the pieces of firewood that her uncle had wanted her to hold onto earlier on.

* * *

Frame by frame, inch by inch, colour by colour, the sky began to darken as the entire earth rotated away from the sun's eternal light and warmth. What was once green and brown, slowly muted into grays as the forest gradually captured the enclosing dusk. But the woods never shut down, instead they kept breathing with life and wonderment as the creatures on the day shift went to bed, causing the nocturnal animals to come out and work as their replacement. There was always movement; places filled to the brim with activity in an ongoing cycle. Yet the forest never changed. Trees as old tortoises stayed in the same location regardless of whether it was night or day, always making leaves drift to the ground in a reliable motion. Like clockwork.

Yet for people who weren't used to the time schedule of the unknown forest, it was rather easy for them to become scared of the ever-growing darkness. "We should head back," a human suggested to his friend. As though the recipient never heard his companion's words of wisdom, the two film scouts continued to wade down the dirt track, feet scrunching the dried leaves as they walked.

"I just want to come back with something, you know," the man mumbled in response.

"But soon we won't be able to see anything anyway," the complainant tried to reason with the stubborn individual. If everything went well, a new movie was going to begin filming in only just a few months. However there were still some scenes that didn't have a location to be shot as of yet, and that's what the two men were trying to discover; the perfect place. Only armed with a backpack and camcorder, they were expected to simply film the site they thought was suitable and remember and record the exact location. Still worried and convinced that their excursion was only going to be a waste of time, the man looked at his friend in shock as he walked off the marked track. "What are you doing?" he exclaimed in panic.

"Relax, would you!" the bold adventurer retorted. "We've been along this track before and found nothing. So we just need to explore a bit… deeper," the man attempted to excuse his rule-breaking actions. His worried partner sighed and reluctantly followed.

"I just don't want to be stuck out here tonight, that's all," he muttered, still rather concerned about what they were doing.

"Why? You scared of the dark?" the more confident man smirked. The complainant didn't say anything in response, as though he had given up trying to whack sense into his friend. They hopelessly trudged and tumbled through the unknown woods. In the fading light, it seemed that every step they took, they only walked further and further into the enveloping darkness. Something was wrong. They shouldn't have left the path.

The complainant grabbed his brash friend's shoulders, forcing him to stop walking. Before he could say anything, the concerned man shushed his co-worker. There were voices. Faint, but there was definitely someone out there. "Who is that?" the bold adventurer whispered to his worried friend, only just starting to become scared as well. As the chill wind picked up, the two men suddenly remembered the story of the 'lizard child' that Andrew Walker had told them.

Standing completely still, both men strained to hear what the distant group of manifestations were saying, but only globs and garbles were distinguishable. Then, like a brilliant flicker of brightness, a new colour was introduced to aging and graying forest realm they were standing in. Something orange… or was it yellow? A whoosh was heard, followed by a thud. It was silver, that was all they could tell. Wondering what the swift object had been, both men belatedly turned their heads to where the device had landed. They stopped breathing when they saw what it was. The stories were true… A single shuriken was lodged deep into the trunk of the tree they were standing beside.

As soon as they even glimpsed the deadly, sharp pointed blades, the two men broke out into a gallop. So freaked out of their minds, they failed to coordinate themselves, and they ended up running in different directions. As one cleverly ran back up towards the track, the other bolted deeper into the unknown forest, foolishly only getting closer and closer to the mysterious voices. Losing his friend, the man to have stupidly decided to invent his own path, gripped his camcorder tighter and he leapt and sprinted over the grassy ferns. He didn't want to look behind. He knew he was being chased.

The man scrambled as he twisted and turned around various trees. He scampered like an ant in the rain. Instinctively knowing that he had gained some ground on his esoteric pursuer, he dived for the ground, just knowing that it was time to hide. Covered amongst the ferns, the man stayed completely still, fearfully expecting his stalker to find him. But the chase never continued. Staying as quiet as a goldfish at night, the man didn't even flinch from his spot. He gasped when he heard the voices again, this time louder. Heart thumping an erratic beat, he listened in terror as the conversationalists grew ever nearer. Scared out of his wits, the man dared to look upwards, just so he knew what he was up against. Stealing a glance, he ducked his head back down low in amazement. Still fearful, breathing lightly, he daringly switched on the camcorder in his hand. The beasts kept talking while he silently filmed them from his hiding place. A male and female pair of Yesmal's Turtles, along with their son were captured on tape for safekeeping, providing absolute proof of their existence on Kauai.

To be continued…

Author's Notes: Sorry, but this will be the last chapter that I'll be able to post before I go on my holiday to Europe. Anyway, since it'll be probably a month till I update again, I decided to make this chapter longer than usual… and end it on a more evil cliff-hanger :P Also, once again, don't worry if you feel you missed something about Don and Sarah. You'll be given a fancy-schmancy flashbacky thingy next chapter, which will hopefully fill in some of the blanks for you o.0!


	6. Hawaiian Idols

Author's Notes: Sorry for the rather long wait on this chapter. As you can imagine, I've had to catch up on three weeks worth of Lost, Desperate Housewives, Mythbusters and The Amazing Race. On top of that my Season 3 DVDs of TMNT have arrived from America and I've currently been busy watching them (though it's kind of sad that those episodes can be commercially released and shipped overseas faster than them simply airing on TV in Australia o.0!). As for my trip (or fahrt as they say in Germany :P), I had a wonderful time, and basically I did too many things to list. I managed to miss both of the London bombings by only about three days. I was in Salzburg, Austria at the time when my tour director announced what had happened. Incidentally, if the first attack had happened precisely one-week earlier, then I might not be here today because I visited the British History Museum that day (which is only about a block away) and I was all over that Underground system around that time. Anyway, I still had a wonderful time in both London and Europe… and now I know all the things I got wrong in The Concrete Prison o.0!

Just a reminder that the Italicized section is all part of a flashback set when Iris and Gabriel are 4, Diana 8, Raph 12, the turtles 32 and Sarah aged 33. As far as timeline is concerned, it actually just occurs before the final chapter in Concrete Prison. I'm sure you know by now, but this trilogy is obviously set in the Next Mutation universe, where Leo directly states that he and his 'brothers' aren't blood relatives. So that's why, if you're wondering, Diana and Mike aren't related to each other.

Chapter Six: Hawaiian Idols.

The fire glowed and sparkled, being fuelled by a pile of blackening twigs and branches. The sky was already pitch black though no stars could be seen because of the bonfire's illuminating warmth. Donatello sat in front of it, as if mesmerized by the twisting and wandering fingertips of the orange flames, however his expression showed no fascination, only seriousness. His nostrils slowly breathed in the oddly sedative smell of burning pine while his mind worried endlessly for the members of his family that hadn't returned to the lair.

A few feet away, sheltered amongst one of the shallow caves along the pumice cliff face, Raphael and Diana sat side by side. The two pairs of eyes observed Donatello and the crackling fire. They were close enough to feel the warmth, but also far away enough to experience the chill that the night air carried. Although slightly cold, Raph and Diana noticed their uncle's absorbed state and naturally stayed at a further distance, as though they were unofficially giving the adult some privacy.

"What do you think he's thinking about?" Diana leaned over and whispered in her half-brother's ear. Raphael only shrugged and gave the girl a small smile, though the facial expression slowly faded away and turned into intrigue when he noticed an object strewn across Diana's lap.

"What are you reading?" Raphael asked after his eyes had focused enough to see that it was a magazine.

"Cosmopolitan," Diana answered cheerfully before abruptly returning to her reading. The teenage boy only gave her a confused look.

"How'd you get it?" Raphael asked. There was no answer. Raphael stared at Diana and it was soon clear to him that she had entered a deep reading trance. "Hey, how'd you get it?" Raphael asked louder this time in conjunction with gently squeezing his sister's arm, hoping that he'd receive a response.

"Huh?" Diana's eyes popped up from the page she was reading and focused onto Raphael's patient gaze. They both fell silent for a few seconds as the girl eventually registered her brother's question. "Oh, um, Uncle Mikey gave it to me," Diana mumbled before quickly returning to her place on the page as though she was never disturbed from her task at all. Raphael frowned.

Quite amused by her anti-social antics, a cheeky little smile toyed at the corner of Raph's lips. In one sleek movement, the boy swiftly leaned over and slid the magazine out of his sibling's gentle grasp. "Hey!" Diana uttered, firstly shocked, then worried. She couldn't let Raph read that page! The male turtle giggled in amusement as his sister clambered towards him, desperately trying to grab the glossy book back. But Raphael used his longer arms to his advantage and always found a position to keep the magazine just out of her frantic reach.

"What's this about?" Diana's actions only made Raphael more curious as to what secrets were unfolded amongst the glossy pages of the Cosmopolitan magazine. Upon hearing his words, Diana gasped in panic and only struggled even harder to grab the book back. Although it was hard to keep his arms stationary long enough for him to read to topic in the dim firelight, he still managed to seize a glance or two of the subject matter. "Ten ways to attract a guy," Raphael announced the title of the article. Diana squealed in both fright and embarrassment. "Number one: Wear makeup," Raphael continued to read out loud. He didn't really take much notice as to what the magazine said, rather he was just enjoying the reaction he was getting from his half-sister. Diana suddenly managed to grab onto a corner, but Raph simply twisted his body and yanked it out of her grasp again. "Number two: Don't be shy," Raphael read out loud, though by this time he was close to laughing. Seizing the moment, Diana made a giant lunge and snatched the magazine back into her possession.

"Raph!" Diana squealed with annoyance as she smoothed out the crinkles in the cover before quickly clutching the book protectively against her plastron.

"What's the big deal about it?" Raph chuckled, rather bewildered by how defensive she had become. Diana's body stiffened while she nervously stripped through her brain for an answer.

"Well… It's a girl's magazine. Meaning that only girls can read it," Diana unconvincingly stated as her eyes darted around almost apprehensively. Her heart boomed against her plastron, just praying that Raphael didn't read too deep into her predicament. Seeing him raise an eye-ridge, Diana bit her lip.

"But… it's all pretty basic stuff," Raphael scoffed at the quality of the writing.

"What do you mean?"

"Well it's not as though it's withholding ancient secrets or anything. I mean, wearing makeup and being confident is pretty bloody obvious. I don't know why you're being so uptight about it," Raphael stated his opinion. It was Diana's turn to frown.

"I just think it's got some good stuff in here," the girl muttered quietly even though Raphael was just playing his role as the annoying and intrusive older brother.

"I'm just surprised they didn't have 'dress provocatively and act slutty' in that list," Raph commented.

"What?" Diana was both confused and shocked by his suggestion.

"I'm just saying that they're not really tips, just basic common knowledge, and you shouldn't get so puffed up about it," Raph shrugged then smirked when he remembered his sister's initial expression when he had snatched the magazine. Priceless. "The whole thing's a puff piece," the boy continued to provoke Diana.

"What does 'puff piece' mean?" Diana wondered after a brief moment of awkward silence.

"Never mind."

"Well I still like it," Diana announced, rather indignant.

"To each his own," Raph shrugged. "Just don't read for too long. You'll wreck your eyes if you keep reading in this light," he advised her, noticing that the bonfire was starting to die. She nodded absentmindedly to his request, as she was already absorbed once again with the magazine article. Some movement caused her to look upwards once again. The two turtles watched as Donatello catatonically stood up, walked a few paces, picked up another log, chucked it into the fire, before returning to his seat on the ground, as though Don was working on a shell groove on his place atop the dirt. Almost immediately their world brightened in a spontaneous burst energy. Yet soon the fire started to find a decent pace to burn and the light retreated once again, but only slightly.

Rather bored, Raphael stared at Diana once again. It didn't surprise him when her head lowered to read the magazine again. The fire pulsed, and in an instant, the cave became lighter, as though the fire had just been given a sip of refreshing gasoline, though the moment didn't last long. Yet during that split second, Raphael was able to observe something he hadn't seen before…

"What's on your face?" Raphael queried. The fire had already faded slightly once again and he could no longer see the finer details of the female turtle's face, but Raphael believed what he saw. There was just something different about Diana's face, apart from the immediate blushing she endured as soon as Raph had uttered his question.

"Um… lipstick. Makeup," Diana murmured, her cheeks heating up in a sudden bout of embarrassment. For the second time that night, Raph raised an eye-ridge. "It came as a sample with the magazine," Diana practically whispered in nervousness.

"Why?" The boy asked, rather baffled by her unusual appearance. Diana shyly turned her face away from his almost constant gaze, not being able to find an answer. "Come here," Raphael gently ordered, gesturing for her to wiggle in closer to him. Afraid that her half-brother might embarrass her again, Diana slowly shook her head. "Come here," Raph repeated, his voice becoming more inviting and trustworthy. Sighing, Diana timidly shifted her body and sat right up close to him. Before she could protest, Raphael held her head with his left hand, while he used his right thumb to carefully wipe away the lipstick that was plastered onto Diana's petite reptilian lips. "You look better without it," Raphael commented softly.

"Raph… Do I look pretty?" Diana asked, her voice wavered with uncertainty. Raph gave her a gentle smile.

"Well I bet a lot of women would kill to look beautiful without the use of makeup," the boy answered, almost cheekily. "Here's a tip – don't try to be human. Just enjoy being yourself, a turtle, for that's all you'll ever be," Raphael summarised. Although she felt rather foolish, Diana thought about her brother's words and smiled at his surprising display of accidental wisdom. A sudden cool breeze swept through the land, causing the pair to shiver. Without saying anything, Raphael wrapped an arm around his sister and pulled her into a warm hug, as though the action came only naturally. When they both looked up again after shifting their positions, they noticed that Donatello was carefully monitoring them from his seat beside the fire. Raphael silently wondered if Donatello had overheard their entire silly conversation, but in the end the boy didn't really worry too much about it. The purple-wearing turtle gave them a gentle smile, though Diana felt that it was filled with concern.

Donatello sighed and turned his head back to his original position, mainly so he could immerse himself with observing the dazzling sparks and billowing flames once again. Though no matter how hypnotising the fire was, Don simply could not stop thinking about the discussion he had earlier with his niece. Why didn't he just say that Mike was wrong with what he did? After all, Michelangelo should have known better than to place Diana in that situation. Five words. 'Mike shouldn't have done that'. That's all he needed to say in order to wipe all the confused and contradicting thoughts that fluttered around Diana's head. Instead he had just stood there, mind scrambling for words he couldn't form.

Then again, who was to say that Michelangelo was ever wrong? There was no law – not anything that was being policed within the clan at any rate. Mike had really only shown his affections for a female who was completely unrelated to himself, which is completely excusable in any ordinary situation. However, Diana was really too young to be seen in such a way and therefore the only boundary Mike had crossed was a moral one. Donatello had heard the joke 'he's old enough to be her father' many times through movies and other media texts. Yet this was no joke. Michelangelo _was_ old enough to be her father, and that was what was so wrong about it. However the moral framework that Donatello's mind kept referring to was one that related to the human realm, and didn't necessarily have to be administered when it came to their own species. In fact, if they upheld perfect human morals, then their species would slowly become extinct, making their own goals contradict the rules of honour that Master Splinter had drilled into the very fabric of their bodies ever since they had come into existence.

Donatello let out a little groan, knowing that there really was no answer to the troubles that meandered around his brain like some blind mole fumbling around up atop a giant tree. Sighing, Donatello rewound to the beginning and mentally slapped himself again for what he had said to his niece. He loathed the position he was in. He was the one who had to make sense of everything, especially since he had offered to be Diana's advisor and councilor. Problem solving unfortunately just came with the job. His thoughts suddenly faltered, as though they were weary from traveling along the same tracks over and over again. They had derailed and his mind plowed straight into thinking about Sarah and of course Michelangelo's reaction to her email that they had discovered earlier in the day. Then it hit him.

Don sucked in a sharp breath when his brain registered a whole new and unexplored pathway of thoughts. How could he solve a problem that he had inadvertently caused? If he had never dated Sarah, then Morpheus would never have been born and Michelangelo would still be best friends with him, having absolutely no need to view his niece as a potential life partner.

'_It's my fault,' _Don thought to himself, even though he really didn't want to admit it. He instantly remembered the choice he had made years ago when he had decided to pursue a romantic relationship with Sarah. Don could still recall word for word the first email he had sent her, the one where he had made up his mind to take the bait and flirt with the women online. At that point in time Donatello had only met Sarah twice in his life; the first time was in London the night before the family had decided to live in Hawaii, while the second time was when Sarah chose to visit the family in Kauai. Even though they had only met twice at that point in time, both of them couldn't deny the frightening number of interests they had in common, nor the chemistry that seemed to grip the air with its alluring and strong fingernails. From there on the two just bantered and flirted as much as they could, though Donatello tried his best not to reveal his feelings about Sarah in front of Michelangelo. However it was the third time, or rather Sarah's second visit to Hawaii, that really flipped Donatello's life up-side-down…

The first thing Donatello could always remember was how busy the main street was. After spending years hidden away amongst the dense forest filled with natural, peaceful wonders, anything that was invented out of the creativity of humans seemed rather loud and obtrusive in comparison. Despite living in either New York, London or Sydney at some time in their lives, traveling back into town always was a culture shock.

Sarah had been unable to book a hotel that was situated closer to the woods. It was the peak season as far as tourism was concerned, and most places were occupied. Yet the good news was that the hotel was situated on the outskirts of the large town, however that didn't mean that the streets would be quiet after sundown. The fact that they had to travel with two four-year olds didn't help their circumstances either.

"We're here," Leonardo stated the obvious once all of his family had crossed the street. "What room is she in again?" the leader whispered his question, wanting confirmation. It wasn't a five star hotel. It probably wasn't even rated three stars. The hotel was located so far away from any beach that it really was only meant for people who wanted to stay one night. It wasn't the type of structure where everyone had to go through a large, plush lobby in order to catch an elevator to go up into their room, which the turtles were thankful for because they didn't have to worry too much about being spotted. Instead the whole building was just one giant square with a vast courtyard in the center so that guests could park their car right outside their doorstep.

"Sarah said before she left that she was thinking of hiring a Nissan Pulsar," Donatello reminded his edgy brother. Since the hotel didn't have decent Internet facilities, there was no way for Sarah to contact the turtles via email and tell them what room number she was in, so they had to rely on what car was parked in what spot.

Keeping to the shadows, one by one the turtles slipped past the glass door that led the way to reception. Judging from the number of cars, Leo predicted that the hotel nearly had full occupancy with only three parking spaces remaining.

"Daddy, my, my feet are sore," Iris whined rather loudly, causing Mike to quickly shush his daughter.

"Iris, what did I tell you?" Mike asked Iris in a strong whisper.

"Keep, keep quiet?" Iris whispered back, hoping that her answer was correct considering that most of the other clan members had given her an annoyed glare.

"I think it's that one," Don pointed out a car that was parked on the opposite end of the large square.

"Looks like she's in room nineteen," Venus commented.

"Hope you're right," Leo murmured, not completely convinced that this whole scenario was a good idea. Together as a stealthy group, the eight turtles inched along the walls, keeping out of the light and along the edges of the open area. After a bit of luck, they eventually made it all the way around to what they hoped was Sarah's hotel room. With extreme caution, Leo gave the door a knock before quickly slipping to the side and back into the enveloping darkness, just wanting to be absolutely sure that it was Sarah's head that popped out and not some snob who would scream at the instant they caught sight of them. The turtles all breathed a sigh of relief when their calculations were correct, and Sarah didn't hesitate to quickly let them into her room.

"Looking nice!" Mike greeted with a large grin once everyone had come inside. Wearing a sleek, slimming red dress, the woman looked rather out of place compared to the cramped and dingy décor of the room.

"I thought it'd be fun to dress up a bit," Sarah shrugged, though she was a little bit insecure, as she now felt overdressed.

"I like it," Don complimented. Sarah gave him a wide smile.

"Why thank you Don," Sarah giggled rather girlishly while she wiped back a few loose strands of hair behind her ear mainly out of a nervous habit. The reptilian guests quietly shifted around the small room with most of the adults preferring to recline against the long wooden bench that jutted out from the brick wall while the children decided to sit either on the bed or the floor.

Michelangelo's nostrils dilated when he immediately smelt a familiar scent. He didn't need to turn his head to find out what it was. There on the wooden bench, three pizza boxes were stacked on top of each other. Studying the turtles' expressions, Sarah knew that it was no use trying to surprise the family. "I ordered pizza for dinner. Sorry, I don't have any plates with me –"

"-That's okay!" Michelangelo interrupted, already helping himself to the pizza that was on the top of the pile. He hummed with delight as he chewed the soft slice, savouring the taste of the melted cheese and sauce. Mike couldn't believe it had been years since he had last tasted such a delicacy. It didn't take long for the other turtles to join in, all enjoying the meal.

"So how's London?" Leonardo asked once he had finished a slice, simply trying to start a conversation. The last thing he wanted was to let Sarah believe that they had only come for the food.

"It's alright. Nothing ever really changes," Sarah answered.

"What have you been working on recently?" Donatello was genuinely interested.

"A new line of clothing. The company I work for is hoping to start a new trend."

"Yeah? What does it look like?" Mike was curious.

"Um, I guess the clothing line has a strong cabaret or typically French feel. Lightweight mid-length frilly skirts; tight turtleneck tops with buttons down the front; blouses; dressier pants for males. That sort of thing," Sarah tried her best to explain.

"Turtlenecks? How sexy," Mike commented with a smirk.

"How exactly do you start trends?" Don wondered.

"It's easier than you think. You just have to sell that line of clothes at a popular store. If there's enough of the product out there, then some people feel comfortable in wearing the style or don't really have much of a choice if they want to buy that particular label. Then if it ends up that the more popular kids at school are wearing those clothes… well, you can't stop the tide from coming in," Sarah summarised.

"Yeah but… there's got to be a few trends that never got off the ground," Don said.

"Yeah, of course. They tried to bring orange back once, but that didn't last long."

"Aww, what's wrong with orange? It's gotta be better than purple," Mike childishly whined.

"Hey, don't knock purple," Donatello jokingly threatened.

Over the next three hours the conversation continued to flourish, with mainly Michelangelo and Donatello doing most of the talking. It turned out that Sarah had brought along a few bottles of champagne, which were popped open once all the pizza had disappeared. When the early morning hours came, Venus started to worry about getting the children home as Gabriel had curled up and fallen asleep on the end on Sarah's unused bed, while Iris was grumpily struggling to keep her eyes open. Judging Diana and Raphael's faces, Venus concluded that they had had enough as well. Having quite a bit to drink, Leonardo, Michelangelo and Sarah had become quite rowdy and rambunctious, causing Venus to seriously consider ending the night. After all, she didn't want to get any noise complaints from the neighbours or management. Donatello was having too much of a good time to notice the rather dangerous noise level.

"Daddy!" Iris whined from her spot on the bed. "I wanna go home!" the four-year old wailed. Venus smirked as she was about to suggest the same idea, however she was thankful that she didn't have be the one responsible for breaking up their miniature party.

"Aw, just a few more minutes, honey," Mike absentmindedly dismissed his daughter's complaint, waving his hand around loosely as though he was drunkenly shooing her away.

"We should really start thinking about heading back," Venus supported Iris' suggestion.

With woozy eyes and a glazed stare, Leonardo observed the children sitting tiredly around the room. He then looked at the alarm clock situated on a small wooden bedside table. "Yeah, we should go," Leo agreed. Both Mike and Don sighed, not wanting to end the visit so soon.

"Don and I can stay back here, right?" Mike asked a little too loud, causing Gabriel to wake up.

"Daddy," Iris whined again, absolutely fed up and exhausted. Gazing at his daughter, Mike knew that Iris was nearly in tears due to being so sleep deprived. At her age, she only really thought about her own feelings, and it seemed that she didn't have any fun whatsoever during the evening, wanting only to go back home. The little girl was in need of her father, and like it was an important job position, Mike felt that he couldn't slack off and leave Iris alone for the rest of the night.

"Alright. Let's go," Mike sighed. Iris couldn't hide her grin.

"Don can stay though," Sarah piped up. Although he wanted to stay behind, Don still felt obliged to act like a gentleman.

"It's late. We better let you get to bed," Donatello stated.

"I can still stay up a few more hours. Checkout's at midday so I'll be able to sleep in tomorrow anyway," Sarah said with a shrug. Leo looked at Don, then back at Sarah.

"You can stay if you want. It's just that we need to get the children back home before it gets too light," Leonardo offered. Taking the entire family anywhere was a long and arduous task. It was important to leave enough time to get home, especially when everyone was fatigued and that the sun would rise in only a matter of hours. It also didn't help that both Leo and Mike were slightly drunk.

"Then I'll guess I'll see you later on," Don concluded, making his decision to stay.

"Thank you for such a great evening," Venus said, getting ready to leave by taking Gabriel by the hand and coaxing him to stand up.

"It was my pleasure," Sarah smiled. "It's not every day that I see you guys. Anyway, I probably will visit Hawaii again, but if for some reason I don't… then I wish you guys all the best," the woman said. It was always sad to say goodbye knowing that it would be years until they saw each other again.

"You too," Leo replied. It was obvious that Michelangelo didn't want to go. Don had a feeling that Mike knew that leaving he and Sarah alone together could be a bad idea. The orange-wearing turtle had acknowledged years ago back in London that he might have some competition when it came to where the woman's heart lay. But Michelangelo left anyway, all because of his daughter. If Iris hadn't been involved, then a whole different set of circumstances might have occurred and Mike would probably have never blamed his child for being the sole cause of losing his main love in his life. For Michelangelo, it all revolved around that one decision, and at the time the turtle had no idea that he'd regret the choice he had made that night for the next few years.

Once the family had exchanged hugs and handshakes, each one slipped back out into the night, gradually making their way back to the lair. All except for Donatello. It was an odd sensation to be the only one left. Don couldn't decide whether it was a sense of relief or awkwardness. They both knew that they liked each other. Both of them had confessed that fact in their emails.

"You sure you don't want any champagne?" Sarah offered, holding up the last slender bottle and wiggling it slightly, making the small amount of remaining liquid swish around inside.

"Nah, I'm right. I don't drink," Don politely declined. It was true. Donatello had never taken a swig of alcohol in his life – too afraid to lose brain cells.

"Your loss, my gain," Sarah grinned as she tipped the last of the drink into her glass. Taking a few big gulps, the liquid was gone forever. "So have you been working on anything lately?" Sarah asked while she clumsily placed the empty glass and bottle to one side.

"Working on anything?" Don was slightly confused since Sarah had changed the subject so quickly.

"You know… You create electrical appliances, don't you?" Sarah asked, just wanting to make sure she wasn't confusing him with someone else.

"Oh! I get what you mean. Um, I haven't made anything lately. I'm trying to get a television to work though."

"Still can't get reception?" Sarah wondered, knowing she had heard about his troubles in some email she had read a while back.

"No. I'll have to think of something different."

"It must be amazing to be able to… make whatever you want," Sarah said, pausing briefly so she could attempt to find the words she wanted.

"Well, a lot of it is just dumb luck. I have to rely on what other people throw out into the trash," Don said, not taking any credit. Sarah lightly slapped his shoulder.

"Don't be so modest!" Sarah exclaimed. "I just think what you do is so extraordinary," she added, though she lowered her voice a few notches, saying her words rather sincerely.

"Really? How so?" Don was curious as to why she thought that way about him.

"You just seem to do all this work for your family. I think it's really sweet," Sarah said softly with a small smile spread across her fine face.

"I never really think about it that way. I just see what's missing and then figure out how to solve the problem," Don said, once again being quite modest. The turtle smiled mildly when Sarah took his hand in hers.

"I just wish there were more guys out there that are as dedicated as yourself," Sarah stated. Donatello could feel it again. That chemistry that seemed to mingle with the air. They had had more intimate conversations with each other over the Internet, but now that they could see each other in real life, their emotions were heightened. The feelings they had seemed to be more alive. More exciting. Yet at the same time they both felt rather restrained, as though they were no longer in a cyber fantasy world filled with carefully planned sentences that could be interpreted eleventy-seventy ways. This time they could actually witness each other's facial expressions and listen to the underlying intention behind their voice. They were only really rehashing their previous conversations that were undertaken online, but now everything was more visceral. Almost bordering on scary.

"Do you think you'll ever return to a science-related career track?" Don wondered, busy staring at the small dainty hand that clasped his.

"You know I can't."

"Do you wish you could?"

"Sometimes," Sarah admitted. "But if I did… Then we might not be here, together, in this room right now."

"How so?"

"Because I wouldn't be so interested in you," Sarah practically whispered, meaning every syllable she said. After all, as the saying went, a drunken man's words are always true. "You teach me so much," the woman admitted, this time looking into his gentle brown eyes.

"I didn't know that," Don said softly, too shy to return Sarah's gaze.

"Did I ever tell you that you kind of remind me of myself?" Sarah asked. Donatello slowly shook his head. "Even though it's been years since I was convicted, the reason I won't return to studying the sciences is because I feel I don't have to. It's because I know that I can just send off an email and talk to you about it whenever I want," Sarah said. She paused for a few seconds, trying to collect her thoughts. "I guess that's why I'm so interested in you. You're who I wanted to be," Sarah confessed, having a heart to heart conversation with the person she regarded as both her mentor and friend.

"I'm your idol?" Donatello was shocked, but quite flattered at the same time. "I think that's the nicest thing someone's ever told me," the turtle whispered, appreciating the compliment. Finally mustering the courage to look the woman in the eyes, there was an instant flicker of a weird little feeling, one that managed to yank Don's heart out of its regular beat and cause him to remain glued, completely focused on her face. Lowering her inhibitions, Sarah hurriedly leaned forward and kissed Don on the lips. He wasn't totally caught off guard, though he still had to pull back.

"What about Mikey?" Don uttered, breaking the rather passionate kiss.

"What about him?" Sarah was confused.

"He likes you. A lot," Don stated rather quickly. Sarah stared into his eyes once again, though this time she was deep in thought.

"He does?"

"I think so."

"I, I didn't know he liked me in that sort of way," Sarah confessed. There was another brief pause. "You do like me, don't you?" she questioned, just wanting to make sure that the turtle shared the same feelings.

"…I do."

"I do too," Sarah replied.

"So what are you going to do?" Don anxiously wondered. He couldn't stand the tension. Sarah sighed and gave him another long stare. A little smile soon spread across her face.

"I'm going to tell you to kiss me," the woman commanded rather cheekily. Donatello blushed at the request.

"Um… okay," he was nervous, so Sarah tended to drag him towards her until he became wrapped up within the moment as well. Years later, Donatello felt like he could remember every second of what they had done together. Every touch, every noise, even smell of Sarah's shampoo and the colour of the sheets. Donatello could also remember how awkward things were almost straight after the event. Most of all, he remembered that horrible feeling of waiting in front of his computer, just wondering when Sarah was going to send him another email. Donatello could never figure out where he had gone wrong. The turtle simply concluded that Sarah was drunk that night and she didn't keep in contact with him because she was either embarrassed or angry with him. However Don truly believed that Sarah knew what she was doing that evening, or at least he thought she wasn't drunk because he still managed to have that rather intelligent conversation with her. He had almost jumped up in excitement when he finally received word from his lover, however that feeling quickly passed when the email simply said 'I'm pregnant'. Things just went downhill from then on…

The sound of footsteps broke Donatello out of his catatonic state of mind. He blinked his eyes, trying to get them to adjust to the sudden darkness, since the whole time he was reminiscing, he had been staring straight into those hypnotising swirling flames. Don quickly glanced at his surroundings. By now Raphael was the only other turtle still awake as Diana had fallen asleep in his arms, her head resting on his shoulder. Still rather startled by the approaching strangers, Donatello tried his best to look in the direction the sounds were coming from. He sighed with relief when he discovered that it was only the rest of the family.

As he observed the others returning back to the lair, slowly walking in the general direction of the firelight, Donatello could empathise with Michelangelo. Even Mike had tried to make contact with Sarah the few months following her second visit to Hawaii, only to be completely bewildered when he didn't get a reply. When Donatello confessed what had happened when he found out that the woman was pregnant with his child, Michelangelo simply became silent as though the news wasn't shocking at all. It didn't take a genius to figure out when the deed took place, and Don thought that it must have been frustrating for Mike to be able to pinpoint the moment when everything took a turn for the worse. Mike knew he should have stayed that night, despite his daughter's pleads, and because he didn't, what he feared would happen, did happen. Donatello didn't blame his brother for hating him. After all, if it weren't for his actions, Mike still would have had at the very least a human friend.

"Sorry we took so long," Leonardo said as he and the others emerged completely from the surrounding trees and bushes.

"I thought you'd take longer," Don mentioned casually, already concluding that either they found Mike quickly, or Mike didn't want to discuss why he ran off earlier with Iris in tow.

"We need to have a family meeting," Michelangelo announced, having a certain sense urgency in his tone of voice. His words caused Diana to stir from her sleep. The two stared awkwardly at each other for a few seconds as though they both feared what the other one would do, but nothing was ever said, and Mike continued on with the more serious matter at hand.

Using his peripheral vision, Don waited till he could see both Raphael and Diana stand up from their spot and slowly move in closer towards the rest of the group. "What's this all about?" Don inquired, rather worried about what the subject matter would be.

"I saw some humans out in the woods," Mike stated. Everyone listened intently. Although they had traveled back to the lair together, Leo and Venus still hadn't heard Mike's entire story as the turtle simply rushed to get back home. When no one acted shocked, as it wasn't uncommon for humans to venture into the forest every now and then, Mike decided to continue on with his eye witness account. "They had video cameras with them," Mike declared. Silence. Michelangelo doubted that anyone was still breathing at that point, and he still hadn't reached the horrible climax of his explanation. "Two men with filming equipment left the walking trail, and I thought they were getting too close to home. So Iris and I threw a few shuriken at them, you know, just like we always do. One ran back to the track, but the other ran further into the woods."

"Where did he go?" Leo inquired.

"I dunno. That's the point. I can't run in two directions at once, and Iris is too young to know what to do in that situation. I tried to chase after him, but I lost his trail after a while. Then I found you guys," Michelangelo recounted.

"Wait… He ran towards us?" Leonardo asked, referring to himself, Venus and Gabriel.

"I think so."

"Think so?"

"I'm certain he did. I just couldn't find him," Mike restated.

"Shit, Mikey! Why didn't you say so earlier? We could have searched for him and made sure that he didn't have any footage of us!" Leonardo said, so scared and angry at that moment that he didn't even realise that he had swore in front of the children.

"I just wanted to get you guys out of that area!" Mike defended his actions.

"We have to leave," Donatello spoke up.

"Isn't that a bit drastic?" Venus questioned.

"She's right. We could just be overreacting to everything. I mean, it's dark, and I bet that guy didn't run too far. Not far enough to reach us," Leonardo tried his best to think rationally once again.

"And what if we're not overreacting? What if we really are caught on tape?" Don questioned, starting to pace out of anxiousness.

"You know, I heard Paris is nice this time of year," Michelangelo placed in his nominations early.

"Well… let us think about it. Honestly, what are the chances? And if we were filmed, then there's a good possibility that it's really poor in quality and will be labeled as a hoax, because it's too dark to make anything out," Leonardo assessed their possibilities.

"We could hide out in Notre Dame and disguise ourselves as hunchbacks," Mike suggested, continuing on with his Paris idea. The other turtles gave him a blank stare. Mike grinned sheepishly. "Oh, come on! Doesn't anyone else wanna go to Paris?"

"We're not moving," Leo announced as though he had just made an executive decision.

"Why not?" Don still challenged his authority.

"Not after everything we've gained. Everything we've set up and built here," Leo said, gesturing towards all the bits and pieces of equipment that were strewn throughout their home.

"But is what we've earned worth what we're going to lose?" Donatello questioned. "Sure. All that's going to happen to you guys is that you'll be placed in a luxurious enclosure complete with a working toilet and free nutritious food! In case you've forgotten, I'll be taken back to the United States military and will be forced into working for them again! I dunno about you, but I don't want that!" Don argued, throwing his hands up into the air out of frustration.

"Don, listen to me… I just think there's more of a risk of being seen at the airport than there is of this guy catching us on film. I don't want to jump to conclusions just yet. We'll just see how this all pans out then make a more informed decision on what to do later on," Leo tried to reason with the turtle. Donatello sighed and slowly began to think more rationally again. He never could remain flustered for long periods of time.

"Alright, Leo. We'll wait and see what happens."

To be continued…

Author's Notes: Alright, hopefully I'll be able to update the next chapter soon. I do however have to sort a few things out in the real world, like finding another job, learning how to drive, rewriting resumes, retraining Phoenix, writing a letter addressed to London explaining how the $50 mini-bar charge was false, etc, etc, etc. I still haven't settled back into everything yet… I think I'm still working on London time because I keep going to bed, waking up and feeling hungry at weird hours. It's kind of a disturbing feeling when you arrive home, but it doesn't feel like home any more. Anyway, I'll try my best to keep updates relatively frequent and hopefully make my chapters a little bit less lengthy from here on out.


	7. Which is Worse?

Author's Notes: Meh… so much for shorter chapters :P

Sassyblondexoxo - Before I started writing this fic, I knew that I wouldn't receive that many reviews because my target audience is smaller. Basically I'm writing this just so I can get rid of all those pesky ideas that float around in my head o.0! It probably is all the back reading that people have to do in order to fully understand this story, and I don't blame them by being daunted by it… especially with how long Concrete Prison is O.O! Yeesh! I can't believe I wrote all that! It's also partly my own fault that I haven't been receiving that many reviews, mainly because I don't really have the time to read other people's fics (actually, I lie. I have all the time in the world, though my brother spends all of that time on eBay!). Anyway, it's still great to see some keen people read all of the trilogy in one go, and I know this is going to sound sappy, but I really like and appreciate the reviewers I have now ;) You guys have been great.

Rene - Yeah, compared to the other two, I have to agree with you and say that this one doesn't have as much continuous cliff-hanger action. This time I really wanted to explore other themes and make it considerably different to the plot of the previous two fics (though some things never change :P). …I can't say much more otherwise I'll wreck the story. Also, there will be more flashbacks later on in the story, so for now don't worry if there aregaps in Don's past.

With Mike in that flashback, I feel that in the end he sort of gave up. If he had stayed with Don and Sarah, then he would have felt like a bad father, and neither one of them would have gotten the girl anyway. I also believe that maybe Mike truly wanted to believe that he could trust his brother not to do anything. Anyway, after writing that chapter, I fully respect and admire authors who place Donatello into intimate relationships. It is _so _hard to write! I feel that Don's OOC if he's even attracted to a member of the opposite sex o.0! That's the real reason why Sarah was so drunk; she basically had lure him into it because he sure as heck wasn't going to make a move :P Anyway, I think Don's reasoning behind it was that Sarah wasn't going to be in Hawaii for very long, so he wanted to make the most of the evening, and because he could still have decent conversations with Sarah, he made a bad call and thought that Sarah knew what she was getting herself into.

…Okay, I'll shut up now and let you guys get on with the fic!

Chapter Seven: Which is Worse?

The media couldn't wait to broadcast the news. For only a few thousand dollars, Hawaii's own television station had bought the exclusive rights to present the compelling evidence of the turtles' existence on Kauai to the world first. The producers were already greedily rubbing their hands, just knowing that other broadcasting agencies would dig deep into their pockets to also earn the right to show a copy of the valuable tape. Yet naturally, there was a problem.

A whistle blower at the television station had sold his information to the local government authorities for a little bit of extra cash. Then, just like a rush of kinetic energy, the local government informed the state, who in turn reported the news about the turtles to the Federal Government in Washington DC. A couple of long distance phone calls were then made. The first one was to tell the Hawaiian television station that a media blackout had been ordered; requesting to at least hold off for twenty-four hours from announcing the news to the public about the turtles, so that the Government would be able to deal with the matter appropriately first before things became out of hand. The next couple of phone calls were addressed to Dr Yesmal, Dr Quease and Dr Aquel.

The three scientists were given one broad order from the Government; 'assess the situation'. Although there were zoos and scientists in Hawaii that could have been called for assistance instead, the authorities thought that it would be wise to just simply reemploy the people who already knew all there was to know about the Yesmal's Turtles. Dr Quease, Yesmal and Aquel were highly qualified and trustworthy people who were already trained up and knew the risks of the job. Although they had disbanded years ago, the Government still wanted them to work together and helped by purchasing them all tickets from New York to Los Angeles, and then non-stop to Hawaii.

Due to different work commitments and assignments, Dr Aquel had ended up catching a separate plane compared to Yesmal and Quease for the first leg of the journey. She was rather shocked, however, when she discovered that the Government had ordered three seats in a row for the final flight to the Pacific state. She hadn't even seen the other two in years, and while she was curious to know what they had been doing, a small part of her didn't really care.

With Aquel taking the isle seat, Yesmal in the middle and Quease at the window, the first few hours were spent either in an awkward silence or in a mundane and mandatory discussion of what they spent the last few years doing. As it turned out, Dr Yesmal had taken his place as Dr Quease's personal assistant. Back in the days when the turtles were captured, Yesmal hired Dr Quease as a much-needed geneticist. Yet when the escape occurred and Quease's job became obsolete at the zoo, it forced him to return back to his own personal research at his privately owned lab. Still extremely interested by Dr Quease's work, Dr Yesmal made a drastic decision and distanced himself from the zoo in order to learn more about mutations and genes alike. When Dr Quease offered him a job position as a lab assistant, Dr Yesmal couldn't refuse. So the employer became the employee, and Dr Yesmal decided to further his studies, only working at the zoo when the money seemed to be worth his time and expertise.

Dr Aquel had a completely different story to tell. Unlike Dr Yesmal, Susan Aquel thoroughly enjoyed working at the zoo, and she continued to work there until the present day. Occasionally she would take a break by going on an overseas volunteer working holiday, such as helping out environmentalists in Borneo with their studies on orangutans. She did it for the love of the job, not for the money, and while she was the poorest and least successful out of the three scientists, she didn't regret anything.

On the plane, the three scientists sat side by side, each occupying themselves and talking only when a moment felt awkward. Quease ended up staring out the window, even though they were over the Pacific Ocean and the only thing he could see was either the colour blue, or clouds. Dr Yesmal was avoiding contact with everyone by adopting the best method of ignoring other people - reading the newspaper, while Dr Aquel was quite content to just simply watch the in-flight movie.

"What are you watching?" Yesmal inquired once he had given up on the daily crossword featured inside the newspaper.

"Huh?" Dr Aquel knew her coworker had said something, but she couldn't hear his words due to the headphones covering her ears. Breaking her gaze away from the screen, she leaned in closer and lifted up one of the large foam-covered ear pieces.

"What are you watching?" Yesmal impatiently repeated.

"The Aviator," the female replied. Yesmal just gave her a small nod of recognition. A few minutes later, the man interrupted her again.

"…Isn't there a plane crash shown in the movie?" Dr Yesmal wondered.

"Several. So?"

"I thought there was an unspoken rule that airlines couldn't show movies that featured plane crashes in them," Dr Yesmal stated. The female scientist gave him a thoughtful frown.

"I think that's for more violent, terrorist related movies. Why? If you're scared of crashing, then why don't you read through that airplane brochure?" Susan Aquel said with a smirk, pointing to the large cardboard booklet that featured diagrams of all the exits and what to do in case of an emergency. Rather bored, Dr Yesmal leaned forward and slid the brochure out of the pocket attached to the seat in front. The man grumped when his eyes scanned across it, casually soaking in all the information.

"I've always loved this diagram," Dr Yesmal pointed to the drawing that depicted what to do if the plane crashed into the water.

"Why?" The female scientist was baffled as to why her colleague liked that particular one.

"Because I find it quite amusing," Dr Yesmal smirked. Aquel just gave him a weird and disturbed look. Seeing her expression, the man thought that it would be wise to explain his reasoning. "As if the plane will land and float on the water's surface, stable and calm enough for everyone to just casually slip down those inflatable slides," Yesmal finished his rather wry comment. Aquel thought over his words for the next few seconds before finally chuckling to herself when she realised how stereotypical those airplane safety diagrams really were.

"Anyway, we should stop talking about plane crashes. We'll make the other passengers nervous," Dr Aquel warned.

"So? What are they going to do if I keep talking about it? Kick me off the plane?" Dr Yesmal questioned rather defiantly, always wanting his own way, never listening to the voice of reason.

"Get up," Dr Quease suddenly ordered the two other scientists from his rather enclosed seat beside the window.

"Why?" Yesmal protested.

"I need to go to the bathroom," Dr Quease said.

"Again! What are you? A fish?" Aquel complained. Unfortunately for the three of them, the Government had skimped on the cash and had booked them all seats in economy, therefore if the person occupying the window seat wanted to get out, then they would all have to get up and pile themselves out in the small isle. Grudgingly they all stood up and shimmied their way into the skinny walkway. They groaned when they all realised that the breakfast cart was blocking Dr Quease's path to the dingy toilet. So one by one they shimmied back into their seats, though by now they were all quite tired and annoyed. They sighed as they wondered what they could do to pass the time.

"Ever been to Hawaii before?" Dr Yesmal suddenly asked the two people beside him. Quease and Aquel shook their heads simultaneously. "Neither," Yesmal said after a short silence.

"Can I watch the footage again?" Dr Aquel asked. Sighing, Yesmal obliged and silently retrieved his laptop from its position under his seat. Of course, the person if front of him had reclined so far that in order for him to bend down, he had to practically rest his head on Quease's thigh. After some awkward maneuvering, Yesmal slowly managed to load the disc on his computer software. Yanking down his small, rectangle-shaped gray table, the three of them gathered in close and watched the short film featuring the mutant turtles.

Although the green creatures were still fairly far off in the distance, the footage was still clear and detailed, obviously because it was shot by an experienced cameraman. There was no doubt that if the witness had simply been an ordinary tourist, then nothing remotely usable would have been captured on film, except for the mumbling sounds of a conversation. The camera's settings had been utilised to its full capacity, with the sound being heightened and the scenery being lightened to show more detail, immediately providing too much evidence to be labeled as an annoying time waster of a hoax.

"What are you looking for?" Dr Yesmal inquired, thinking that the female scientist was seeking for something in particular.

"I wanna know what they're talking about," Dr Aquel murmured, listening hard. Eventually she resorted to plugging in the headphones that the plane provided, though all she could hear was that distant mumbling sound. Yet there was a word that she thought she recognised. 'Sarah Wat-'. It wasn't clear, not even complete, but Aquel couldn't think of what other word could have been said._ 'Why would the turtles be talking about Sarah Watson?'_ Dr Aquel wondered to herself. She shook her head and eventually concluded that she had heard the animal rights activist's name because she had imagined it; thinking too much about the recent events that had unfolded, that the name kept popping up into her subconscious mind, not allowing her to interpret the words in any other way.

"How old do you think the youngest turtle is?" Yesmal suddenly asked both of his coworkers.

"Probably just a bit older than what the little red male was when he was in captivity. So I'm guessing around maybe seven, eight. At most, nine," Dr Aquel stated once she had pulled out her headphones from the laptop, giving up on trying to eavesdrop on the turtles' conversation. Dr Yesmal gritted his teeth when the female scientist had referred to that particular turtle. Out of habit, the man stared at the deep scar on his hand, slowly stretching and bending his fingers, watching them as they shook, hesitated and wobbled as though the tendons in his palm weren't operating properly. The mark was a brutal reminder of what one of the turtles had done to him. Although young, Raphael had slammed a sai through his hand, rendering it scarred and injured for the rest of his life. He had undergone surgery a number of times in order to try and fix up all the nerves that had been damaged, but no matter how many times it had been operated on, the limb still shook involuntarily and felt numb in some parts. Dr Yesmal had agreed to come and study the species he had named for two reasons; one was because the Government had offered a fair sum of cash, while the other reason revolved around his personal vendetta against that particular red-wearing reptile.

"So do you think that's the turtle that we created through in vitro fertilisation?" Yesmal pondered, continuing on with the conversation even though his mind was elsewhere.

"It's definitely probable. It could be the one that was conceived naturally though," Dr Aquel analysed, remembering that there were two eggs the last time they had heard about the turtles. "I wonder if they've had any more offspring since then?" The female scientist questioned. "Either way, I can't wait to see how the group's going!" Dr Aquel said, getting excited and curious about their mission.

"Neither can I," Dr Yesmal muttered to himself, still flexing and bending his hand, slowly becoming less and less impatient about getting his revenge.

* * *

No one even dared to breathe. There was no talking, no grunts or mumbles. Their eyes didn't even blink. They couldn't believe what they were witnessing. Splattered all over the morning news, the media was finally given permission to broadcast the videotape containing the extraordinary footage of the turtle clan. It was the top story and went for at least two minutes in length. Partly terrified, and yet partly impressed by the quality of the tape, the turtles felt rather numb watching themselves being exposed to millions of people worldwide.

"What are we going to do?" Michelangelo managed to gasp and speak in a breathless voice at the same time. There was a long silence. Leonardo was still trying to get over the shock. None of them had expected to see _that_ on television. What had started out as a peaceful morning had now mutated into a horrible nightmare.

Not taking his eyes off the television screen, Leonardo managed to utter an answer. "I don't know," he whispered. It was easy to tell that he was frightened. Though he wasn't scared for his own life, but rather he feared for his family. He knew that there was a big chance that Donatello could be taken away from the clan, while Venus and Diana could unwillingly fall pregnant. Leo didn't want any members of his family to suffer.

"We have to leave," Donatello spoke up, his voice clear, absolutely convinced that he had announced the only solution. Sighing, Leonardo stood up from his seat in front of the television and turned the entertainment system off, obviously wanting to discuss the issue with the clan without having any background distractions.

"Okay. If we leave, where are we going to go?" Leo's mind had finally sprung into gear, already attempting to formulate a plan.

"Well… are we going to live out in the country, or are we going back to living in cities?" Venus wanted to narrow the scope down.

"Well, if we're going to live out in the country, then we'll need a place that has fertile land so we can support ourselves by growing crops. If we choose a city, then we don't have to worry about food as much, though there's a greater chance of being discovered by humans," Donatello analysed.

"We've tried cities. It didn't work. We've got to live away from civilisation," Leonardo made a firm decision.

"Europe?" Mike suggested, still thinking about France. "It's got fertile land."

"Too flat," Don disapproved. "There'd be nowhere to hide. A lot of it's already farmed; human populations are too widespread. We could try hiding in the mountains, but then it would probably be too cold for us," Donatello said.

"Is it just me, or is Africa starting to sound remotely plausible?" Mike pondered the possibility out loud.

"Yeah, that is if we manage to survive the harsh environment, the native wildlife, and the poachers that wouldn't even question shooting us before selling our shells on the black market," Raphael finally spoke up, sounding rather sour, especially when he reminded everyone of the fate of his father. "Frankly I'd rather just stay here and take our chances," the teenage boy mumbled. Although he stated his opinion rather harshly, Raphael did manage to raise an issue that the others hadn't thought about. In that moment, Leo realised that their situation could have been a lot worse. In the Western World, most countries were dedicated to conserving endangered species, compared to other places that would prefer to exterminate them for accessories, traditional medicines, or just for a plain old Yesmal's Turtle meaty burger. Considering they were all at the mercy of the human race where anything could have happened to them from dissection to going into the pet trade, the turtle clan couldn't really complain that their lives were that bad.

"Better the devil we know," Leo murmured to himself after pondering over all of the worst case scenarios.

"I think Africa's a bit too far away… Wouldn't the airport security be too tight for us to swap planes?" Venus asked.

"Airports have really cracked down on security lately," Leonardo confirmed his wife's concerns. "I don't think we should really risk it."

"What are you suggesting, Leo?" Don asked, wary of his brother's train of thought. Everyone stared at the clan's leader, wondering what the outcome of the discussion would be.

"I think Raph's quite right. Why should we risk being caught at the airport, or traveling to a foreign country that doesn't care as much about animal rights? This is our home. We should defend it for once," Leonardo announced a completely different tactic than what they had ever tried in the past.

"Leo, you can't be serious!" Donatello couldn't believe what he had just heard.

"Think about it, Donny. Videotape or not, they still don't know where our lair is. Back in the old days, when the Foot were sneaking around in the sewers, whenever they got close, did we ever freak out, pack up and move country? Of course not! We just hung tight for a few days. And that's what we're gonna do this time," Leo said with confidence in his plan.

"But these scientists are never going to stop looking for us! They'll search every inch of this island if they have to!" Don complained.

"What? And the Foot didn't?" Leo retorted.

"I didn't mean it like that," Don said through his grinding teeth. An annoyed snarl started to form on his face.

"All I'm trying to say is that we know our enemy. Who knows? If they don't find us after a few weeks, then they might automatically expect that we've moved anyway, because that's what we've always done before, and that's what they'll predict us to do," Leonardo tried his best to explain his train of thought.

"And what if they don't give up?"

"Then at least we know what's in store for us," Mike muttered, also starting to warm up to the idea of simply staying.

"Like I've said before, it's all fine and dandy for you guys, but I get forced into slavery," Donatello continued to argue against his family's decision.

"It couldn't have been that bad," Mike said, rolling his eyes at his brother's melodramatics; an action that only succeeded in infuriating the purple-wearing turtle.

"You have _no_ idea what it was like for me. How alone I felt; how I longed for you guys to find me," Donatello angrily defended the reason why he was opposed to Leo's idea, aiming most of his words towards Michelangelo.

"Well it's not as though you came to rescue us either," Mike replied, getting irritated.

"There were some complications, otherwise I would have!"

"Well, we had problems as well, so stop your whining!"

"Whining? Oh, I'm so sorry that because of these so-called scientists, I spent eight years in solitude! Personally I think I have every right to complain!" Donatello sarcastically argued with Mike.

"Yeah, and for those eight years you were never chased, shot at, attacked. Hell, you probably weren't even rudely woken up from your sleep! You just slept in peace without a fear in the world, like a little baby," Michelangelo really got stuck into his brother.

"Wow… You just proved my point about not understanding what it was like for me!"

"Then stop whining and just tell me!"

"I will! But you're too much of an ignoramus to open your ears and listen!"

Venus couldn't take it any longer. Without warning, she doubled over and started cackling at the pair of hot-headed turtles. "And what could possibly be funny?" Don yelled, quite baffled at Venus' reaction, not knowing how she could laugh at a time when their lives were in danger. After hacking out a few more incapacitating chuckles, Venus slowly composed herself once again, though her large smile never left her face.

"You just reminded me of how Raph and Leo used to fight," Venus giggled. "You're both just… so stubborn. So silly," the female turtle smirked. Since his wife had broken the awkward tension in the air, turning it more light-hearted, Leonardo let out a few chuckles as well, also remembering the days when he used to enter pointless heated arguments. Mike and Don stared at the pair, totally flabbergasted.

"Are we really that bad?" Mike asked, his voice filled with both shock and fear. He had always been ashamed at how his two eldest brothers squabbled over what seemed the smallest topics. He hated the feeling that had emanated from Raph and Leo; how awkward the tension felt afterwards. Not only was it horrible for the participants, but also for the spectators, and Mike had sworn to himself that he would never argue with that amount of ferocity with anyone in front of the rest of the clan. Venus' comment had only made him realise how tattered and broken his friendship with Donatello had become.

Donatello was equally shocked by Venus' seemingly light-hearted comment. Like Mike, he too had once thought that Raph and Leo's arguments were the epitome of animosity. He was a turtle who preferred peace, and it shook his bones to realise how many things had changed over the years. He never wanted to act in that way. With sorrowful eyes that only wanted forgiveness for his stubborn behaviour, Donatello glanced at Diana, Iris and Gabriel who were all listening in on the important discussion. It was easy to tell that the children were concerned; all of them relying on the decision the adults made, as they were too young to solve the problem by themselves. They weren't scared, but rather felt betrayed, just how a voter would feel if their representative in Parliament suddenly treated their important job with nonchalance. Their lives depended on the outcome just as much as the adult's did, and there was no time or space for a pointless squabble to take place.

"You're definitely getting there. Just add a few more swear words and a punch for good measure," Leonardo answered Mike's rhetorical question with a smirk and a wink. Raphael frowned. The boy had heard that his father used to disagree with the clan's leader a lot, but he never really thought it had been as serious as Leo had just made it out to be.

"Were the fights between you and my father really like that?" Raph questioned, curious yet also worried at the severity of the arguments.

"Nah. It was all in good fun. Nothing major," Leonardo dismissed his adopted son's fears. The other adults scoffed involuntarily in response, though they belatedly tried to cover up their reactions when Raphael raised an eye-ridge, quickly catching on that he wasn't being told the entire truth.

"That's the understatement of the century," Michelangelo muttered just loud enough to be heard. Venus giggled in response to his comment, though once again she tried to cover up the laughter for Raph's sake. Leo gave the other adults a quick glare, silently fuming that they hadn't taken his lead and not have made the issue any worse. The leader sighed in defeat, knowing that Raphael would no doubt approach him later on in order to try and pry for information that Leo didn't want to be known.

"Okay… Let's get back on topic, shall we?" Leo said, slightly annoyed by how far the subject matter had drifted.

"Why can't we just move to another Hawaiian island?" Donatello suggested, swiftly getting back on track with the discussion.

"Steal a speedboat again? Just like how we got to Kauai in the first place?" Leo wanted to rectify Don's idea.

"Yeah, of course. There's no way we'd be able to sneak on board smaller aircraft," Don confirmed.

"But in the first year we can't grow enough crops to support ourselves, so that'll mean we'll have to supplement our diet with food stolen from the nearby towns. It just takes time to get all the agriculture and whatnot up and running," Leo said.

"So? That's what we had to do before when we first started living here," Don replied, not understanding what the problem was.

"But other islands have larger towns. There's a greater chance of being caught. We were lucky last time that we weren't seen."

"They won't be expecting us on another island though! Leo, honestly, what are the chances of staying free when we're going to be up against tranquilizers, radio tracers and traps alike?" Donatello said, starting to sound rather flustered again.

"Don… I guess what I'm trying to say is that we haven't done anything wrong. We've been living in this forest unnoticed for almost a decade now. We're no threat to anyone. The moment we step foot in a town, then we'll be classified as dangerous, and then they'll have no choice but to capture us. I'm just saying that if we leave or change our behaviour, then things could be worse," Leonardo summarised his argument.

Although he wouldn't admit it, Don could understand what his brother meant. Being so interested in science, Don knew that it would be unusual for scientists to round them up, pull them out of a natural environment and then cart them all the way back to New York. Whereas if they were spotted in a town… then execution could be a scary possibility, especially when it was widely known that the turtles had killed human beings before. There had been zoo escapees in the past. Donatello could recall numerous news stories about gorillas, lions and rhinos breaking free and running wild in the city streets, only to be shot on sight because they were endangering human lives, even though they were all considered threatened or endangered species. The turtles didn't know if they'd be treated the same way, but none of them wanted to find out. It was hard to know what was the greater risk, or what was the better outcome or choice, but with being outnumbered, Donatello knew when he had been defeated.

"Alright Leo. Let's stay and lay low for a while. Just let it be known that I never agreed to this plan," Donatello finally relented, concluding the debate. The blue-wearing turtle gave him a solemn nod, respecting the hard decision that his brother had made.

* * *

Dr Yesmal watched the second and minute hand circle around the clock face while he impatiently wondered when the park warden would finish reading the fine print on their Government contract. Everything had already been prepared for them. The three scientists had reserved accommodation at the nearest tourist facility; a campsite in the middle of the woods that was mostly comprised of simple wooden logged cabins. They had also been a special priority over the other visitors, being allowed to turn the large sports gym that was located within the campsite into a basic lab and containment facility. Yet there was one thing that stood in their way. A man by the name of Andrew Walker.

Yesmal drummed his fingers against the timber desk while Quease's and Aquel's eyes aimlessly drifted around the room – sometimes looking out the window, sometimes staring at the dingy kitchenette and microwave. Extremely impatient, Dr Yesmal sighed heavily, starting to feel rather cramped inside the warden's ridiculously small office. "Hold on… Almost done…" Andrew Walker murmured when he could sense the scientist's disgruntlement, though his focus never left the document he held in his hands detailing the duties the Government instructed the researchers to fulfill.

"You know, I've read through it. There's nothing that's really out of the ordinary," Dr Yesmal wanted to hurry things up, just itching to hunt down the species that was named after him.

"I'm sure there isn't. But you can never take contracts for granted," Andrew Walker stated, trying his best to hide his smirk. After waiting another full minute and a half, the warden gently placed the contract back on the desk and slid it back over towards his important guests. "You're welcome to study the Yesmal Turtle species… however I cannot grant you the permission to capture, hold and export these turtles from this island," the man said firmly. All three scientists held a dumbstruck expression.

"Why, why not?" Dr Yesmal was flabbergasted.

"They are considered native animals, and this is a National Park. You can't just come waltzing in here expecting to just abduct whatever animal you want. There are certain rules that you have to abide by," Andrew Walker pointed out the facts, being quite stern.

"But surely given the circumstances-" Yesmal started to protest.

"-It says so in the contract," the park warden interrupted the scientist's attempt of negotiation.

"What! Where?" Yesmal sounded alarmed.

"Paragraph three, line five, and I quote: 'In accordance with Federal National Park Laws'," the man recalled, still trying to hide his smile of success. He couldn't help but enjoy himself as he teased the three scientists. Dr Quease hurriedly scanned his eyes through the document, only to frown when he discovered that Andrew was indeed correct. "So under these park laws, you're allowed to observe and study the Yesmal Turtle, but you can't disturb them for long periods of time."

"…But technically they're not really native animals. They didn't originate from Hawaii," Dr Quease entered the fray.

"Do you know that for certain? Can you currently find them anywhere else in the world? From what I've heard, it seems that they're endemic to this area… which in my book means that they're native, and therefore protected," Andrew concluded.

"…Well, actually, a few of the animals were bred in captivity, so technically, shouldn't they be exempt from-" once again Yesmal tried to negotiate with the stubborn park warden.

"-Stop trying to look for loopholes. They're protected by law, and there's nothing we can do about it," Andrew saw right through the scientist's attempts to bypass the rules and regulations.

"I don't believe this," Dr Yesmal muttered under his breath while he rubbed his forehead with a hand in frustration.

"So what exactly do you mean by 'study'? What can we do?" Dr Aquel inquired, the only one out of the three who didn't seem as devastated by the news that they couldn't transport the turtles back to New York.

"You'll be able to film and photograph them. Also, you're allowed to perform more in depth observations through capture and release methods," Andrew said.

"Oh, so we can still tranquil them and take data, as long they're released again within a short time frame?" the female scientist wanted confirmation on their limitations and rights as researchers. The park ranger nodded in response.

"No more than thirty minutes though, and, of course, nothing too strenuous that will stress out the animal," Andrew rectified.

"Can we use helicopters?" Dr Yesmal piped up again.

"What for?"

"To help us find and tranquil them."

"Definitely not. Here in the National Park we have whole flocks of rare and native birds. If you fly an aircraft below the height restriction, then you'll be heavily fined for endangering the wildlife," Andrew Walker warned him.

"This is ludicrous," Dr Yesmal muttered under his breath again, still in disbelief by their whole situation. Usually men in Andrew's position would love to help out with the research so much, that they'd be willing to quit their jobs in order to do so. Afterall, it wasn't everyday that a rare and extremely interesting living anomaly was occupying the forest right outside their doorstep. However, for some reason, Andrew was being extremely uncooperative, and Dr Yesmal couldn't help but wonder why.

"You've been given permission to access the areas of the park that's usually off limits, though I do ask of you to be careful where you tread. We also have some exotic plant life that we need to protect," Andrew said.

"So… are we allowed to contain them for long periods of time at all?" Dr Yesmal asked, still obsessed with the idea of capturing the turtles… and exacting his revenge. The park ranger sighed, knowing that he had to answer the question truthfully even though he didn't want to disclose the information.

"Under certain circumstances… Yes," Andrew mumbled. If Dr Yesmal was a dog, then his ears would have perked up and his tail would have started wagging furiously.

"Really? …What kind of circumstances?" Dr Yesmal intently asked, leaning forward as though he had suddenly gained interest in the conversation once again.

"Well if they're a threat to human life, then they'd have to be relocated. They'd also be moved if they're destroying native plants or severely making an impact on the population size of other native species."

"Like being a pest?" Dr Yesmal had to refrain from hissing his words.

"Yeah, kind of. But either case doesn't apply to these turtles. I mean, they've been living in these woods unnoticed, for what? A decade now? So they're not threatening the public, and from what I've seen, they've had no major catastrophic affect on the environment either," Andrew shrugged.

"What if one fell ill, or needed to be treated?" Dr Quease said with a rather conniving facial expression.

"Well… yeah, you'd be allowed to house and treat them."

"So we can contain them for long periods of time if there is a medical reason?" Dr Yesmal inquired, sharing the same evil genius look that his boss was sporting.

"Yes. Basically there just has to be a valid and strong reason for catching them and taking them away from their habitat," Andrew repeated, eventually becoming weary by his guest's constant probing for loopholes. "Um… Is there anything else? Any other questions?"

"I think we're right for now," Dr Aquel stated with a smile, knowing that the park ranger was trying to end the conversation. One by one the three scientists exited the cramped office and entered the reception area. Their bags were still sitting in the lobby. Wanting to check in, Dr Quease approached the counter in order to sort out the bookings while Dr Yesmal and Aquel stood to one side, wanting to talk about what they had arranged with Andrew Walker.

"This is so shit!" Yesmal swore under his breath, completely annoyed with the whole situation regarding the turtles. The female simply shrugged in response while she carefully scanned her eyes across the wall lined with shelves of tourist pamphlets. "What was wrong with that guy? Just so damn uptight! You'd think that considering we're talking about one of the rarest animals in the world, you'd think he'd help us out and bend the rules a bit!" Dr Yesmal continued to rant under his breath to his female colleague. "What do you think about all this?"

"Ooh, movie tours," Dr Aquel hadn't been listening to the man's angry whispering, and instead had just been collecting pamphlets.

"Susan?"

"Hmm, what?" He finally gained her attention.

"What the hell just happened in there? Since when does a friggin' park ranger have authority over us?" Dr Yesmal was still venting his rage.

"Well… frankly I don't see what the big deal is. The Government never said that we had to transport the turtles back to New York. They just said to check things out," Dr Aquel reasoned.

"But how are we supposed to study them?" Dr Yesmal raised his voice slightly in frustration.

"There are plenty of ways to do our job. Personally I think Mr. Walker's right. Capturing them and isolating them from one another is only going to alter their behaviour, skewer results and cause undue stress. The only reason we caught them last time was because they were in city areas. That's not the case this time around," Dr Aquel enforced her opinion. All of a sudden she gasped. "White water rafting!" She smiled with glee as she daintily picked up a pamphlet off the shelf.

"But before we could observe them at all hours. Study them more accurately," Dr Yesmal continued to protest against the decision that had been made.

"But aren't you curious to see what they're like in their natural environment?"

"They'll probably just do the same things we've seen them do before back in New York… Though in New York we were able to make a profit off them."

"Is that all you ever think about these days? The money? Do you honestly believe that being restricted in tiny cells, separated from each other, that it didn't alter the way they acted in any way, shape or form?" Dr Aquel interrogated her coworker, disbelieving his ignorance… or arrogance.

"Well…" Dr Yesmal couldn't think of anything to defend his reasoning. Luckily for him, Dr Quease broke the conversation when he moved away from the reception desk.

"You're both in cabin fourteen," Dr Quease announced while he dangled the keys in front of Aquel.

"Both? Are we sharing a cabin?" Dr Aquel held a mortified look on her face. Quease nodded.

"Because the Government couldn't reserve rooms that far in advance, they had to make do and give us a cabin for three. But I'm not staying here," Quease said.

"Why not?" Yesmal wondered.

"I study through dissection, not by looking at photographs. This really is just a big waste of my time," Dr Quease grumbled as his ego started to shine through.

"So what are you going to do? Where are you going to go?" Dr Aquel questioned.

"I might just head back to New York, return to my lab. It'll probably just be easier to create my own mutants rather than running around a giant forest trying to look at some animals," Quease started to take on a sour tone.

"But you just got here!" Dr Yesmal stated, amazed that after a relatively long flight, his boss wanted to hop back on a plane and return straight home again.

"If we manage to collect some samples, then we'll might need you to analyse them," Dr Aquel pointed out. Dr Quease sighed, secretly admitting to himself that he wasn't ready to hop back on a plane just yet.

"I'll probably just stay in town somewhere then," Dr Quease changed his mind.

There was a long silence. Eventually all three scientists allowed their blank gazes to fall upon Andrew Walker's closed office door. "I think he's hiding something," Dr Yesmal whispered, narrowing his eyes. It was the only thing that everyone agreed upon.

To be continued…


	8. Playing With the Big Boys

Rene - In regards to techno babble, I think what Ziptango once did was look up a NASA website and then grab all the really big words (forgive me if I'm wrong about this Ziptango!). But it really depends on if you want it to make sense or not, because if you want it to be somewhat comprehensible, then I'm afraid you might have to develop an understanding of the actual techno topic : ( Good luck with your fic, by the way ;) Also, don't worry - I have no plans to make a fourth story, because I know that once I go past the trilogy idea, then there's no stopping how many fics I could be writing! It'll end up like those Police Academy or Land Before Time movies where more and more just keep getting created for no apparent reason :P I could have stopped at two, especially when Concrete Prison will end more nicely than this one, but I just had too many left over ideas that I couldn't ignore. …And yes, that plane scene was based off personal experience -.-!

XXXElektraXXX - Originally when I started planning this story I had heaps of ideas, one of which was where Raph's ghost returns. Unfortunately a few things just simply didn't fit in well with the overall plot, and one of them was Raph's ghost. It was the last major idea I edited out of the plot because, like you, I really wanted to put it in mainly because it was just so fun to write about. However the main reason why I ended up not including it was because I felt that Raphael had been put to rest in the previous fic, and the whole moving on and healing process that the family went through in the Glass and Concrete Prison would become rather meaningless if I introduced Raph's ghost again. Also, I just couldn't think of a decent way to add him into the story. Usually, because I write the fic as I go along, I'm able to add in some things people request or question about, however I can't make any promises as far as Raph's ghost is concerned : ( I'm sorry. I do agree with you that Raph should be mentioned a lot more though. Thanks for the review : )

Ziptango - Don't worry, it makes sense ;)

Chapter Eight: Playing With the Big Boys.

No one could sit still. Everyone was nervous. The level of enthusiasm and playful delight within the clan had plummeted. It was all on their minds; being caught, isolated or even tortured. The turtles were on high alert, jumping every time they heard a twig snap in the distance. With nothing being achieved around camp except for developing a unique phobia, Leonardo knew when it was time to try something different.

Taking total control of his nervous followers, Leo instructed them to perform certain essential tasks such as harvesting crops, fishing and fetching fresh water. Anything to get their mind off all the horrible possibilities of their immediate future.

It was around that time when Leonardo decided to explore the caves that lined one side of their lair. Using only a stick that was lit with fire, Leo, Mike and Don together advanced down the dark natural passageways. To their surprise, a few of the tunnels didn't go as far as they had once thought it had; only just long enough so that the clogged up end avoided the faint sunlight that filtered in from the entrance. Although it wasn't a maze like they had originally hoped, the turtles knew that it was safe to travel along some in the dark, though if they were followed then they would be completely trapped. Some of the tunnels advanced further into the pumice-filled mountain, yet the deeper they went, the more dangerous they became, with quite a few ending in sheer, steep drops into what seemed nothingness. Donatello had said that they were probably air pockets left behind when lava used to flow frequently over the island. In other caves, the tunnel petered out into small holes only big enough to crawl through. Either way, Leonardo wasn't comfortable in exploring further, not without a decent supply of medicines and a very long, very thick rope so that he wouldn't fall into the dark abyss.

Since food supplies and emergency hiding places had been taken care of, the last thing Leo had to worry about was everyone's diminishing positive attitude. Wanting to make sure that everyone was still in peak physical condition as far as their martial art skills went, Leonardo decided to have some fun at the same time and therefore ordered the clan to play their favourite game, capture the flag. As soon as the whole family heard the news, the giggling, jokes and comical bantering returned. It would be the first time that everyone would be playing the game together, no longer segregated into children and adults, but rather as one entire working unit. Naturally it wouldn't be all fun and games; Leo had on purposely placed certain turtles together in their teams, hoping to quell some arguments while also aiming for everyone's abilities to be utilised to their fullest.

"Alright!" Leo started off, pacing in front of his family. "Mike, Don, Diana and Raph, you're in one team. Venus, Iris, Gabriel, you're with me," Leo instructed. He watched in silence as everyone shifted into their respective groups. The turtle smirked when he handed the opposing team their red flag. "Good luck guys. You'll need it," Leo taunted with a wink.

"Yeah right! We'll pinch your precious little flag before lunch time," Michelangelo replied cockily, accepting the challenge.

"Um… Dad? Can I speak with you for a second?" Diana softly asked her father, moving closer towards him so that the others wouldn't hear her request. With a little nod and a look of curiosity, Leo walked away a few steps from the rest of the family. "…Can I not be in a group with Uncle Mikey?" Diana nervously suggested, hoping that her father wouldn't ask too many questions. Although he was taken aback by her request, especially when the two turtles seemed to get along so well in the past, Leo simply answered her question and thought of an alternative.

"You could swap places with Gabriel if you want." Diana thought about his offer, turning back to her team members as she examined the situation.

"Can I still be in a group with Raphael though?" The girl found her current position rather awkward. Although she felt slightly uncomfortable around Michelangelo, she still wanted to enjoy Raphael's company, especially when she rarely ever got to work with him as an ally, as she was usually pitted against him in battle. Leonardo sighed and crossed his arms, either deep in thought or in frustration.

"Sorry. Raph and Mike are going to have to be on the same team. I made a promise to Raph a while ago that he wouldn't have to be paired with Iris, while I'll like to see Iris cooperate without her father's presence for once. So neither of them can be in a team with your sister, therefore Raph and Mike have to be with each other," Leo explained to his daughter the problem. Diana sighed. "Why? What's the problem?" Leo inquired, starting to get suspicious. The girl immediately backed off and accepted the circumstances.

"Nothing," she said simply. Leo raised an eye-ridge, not accepting her short answer. "I just wanted to have a bit of variety," Diana lied. Desperately not wanting any further questions to be asked, Diana quickly rejoined her team.

"Are we right to start?" Venus asked her husband.

"Just to make things clear, if any of you see anything out of the ordinary, forget about the game and come straight back to the lair or the backup rendezvous point. You all understand?" Leonardo stated seriously. Everyone nodded, knowing the severity of his words.

"Oh, also, I think the Indiana Jones River should be out of bounds," Michelangelo suggested.

"Hulei'a Stream," Donatello corrected with a roll of his eyes.

"Whatever," Mike muttered.

"Why?" Leo wondered about the orange-wearing turtle's request.

"I think they've just started filming 'Survivor Twenty' along there," Mike announced.

"Really?" Leo was baffled and interested at the same time.

"Well… I guess it was only a matter of time before they ran out of Pacific Islands and resorted to just filming the show within the United States," Donatello shrugged.

"…But isn't there a hotel just a mile away from there?" Leonardo thought out loud.

"So? It's still the human equivalent of the 'wilderness'," Donatello humoured them, wiggling his two large fingers in the air to symbolise quotation marks.

"Okay, well apart from avoiding the back-stabbing starving tourists, is there anything else you know of that we should avoid?" Leo posed his question to his entire family. Everyone shook their heads. "Alright, let's get started. You've got half an hour to devise a plan, then we begin," Leonardo announced before leading his group away from his opponents.

Still standing within the lair, Mike, Don, Raph and Diana stared at each other. Michelangelo tried to cover up the amount of displeasure he was experiencing because of the turtles he had been placed to work with. Although he felt bad about the spat he had with Donatello the day previously, he still didn't want the purple-wearing turtle on his team. Along with feeling stupid, cautious and just plain awkward around his niece, Mike sighed knowing that it was going to be a long day. But the turtle knew that Leo had his reasons for placing them all into one team, and Mike decided to just make the most of the situation.

"So where are we going to hide the flag?" Raphael asked when no one stepped up to take control.

"Hide it?" Mike exclaimed, partly scoffing. "You're playing with the big boys now, Raph!" Mike grinned, giving his nephew a light, manly slap across the back.

"Huh?"

"Raph, in the adult version of Capture the Flag, you don't have to hide it. You can carry it on you, or you could try to bargain with a traitor from the other team," Donatello translated Michelangelo's comments.

"Are there any rules?" Diana inquired, becoming curious.

"You can't bury the flag, and you've got to stay within the game's boundaries, so no snooping around campsites or towns. But that's about it!" Mike summarised.

"Do you win anything?" Raphael questioned.

"Bragging rights. Also the TV remote control for tonight," Michelangelo grinned. "We're so gonna win this!" he exclaimed, shaking out of excitement. To him, Mike thought that they had the better deal, especially when both nine-year-olds, thus the most inexperienced ninjas, were on the other team.

"So what's our plan of attack going to be?" Raphael asked, itching to get started.

"I think we should hide the flag and all four of us should hunt for the other team," Donatello spoke up.

"Hide it? Where?" Mike frowned at Don's idea.

"Well… Raph can climb, so how about up a tree?" Don shrugged.

"But Iris can climb trees," Mike reasoned. "Seriously, it won't be that hard for them to find and get the flag if it's stuck up high for all to see," the turtle continued to discourage his brother's suggestion.

"Well what do you think we should do?" Don said, trying not to sound irritated.

"Carry it with us. Stay together as a group," Mike stated as though it was an obvious tactic that should have been given consideration earlier.

"But Leo will win that way!" Don complained.

"What! How so?" Mike sounded alarmed and confused.

"Leo will just take the flag off us."

"…Are you trying to say that I can't hold my own against Leo?"

"Well… not necessarily. I think he'd beat any one of us," Donatello said with honesty.

"Where's your positive spirit?"

"I'm just trying to be realistic here. Don't underestimate him!"

"Yeah, but he's got two kids on his team. Trust me, we can take them on!" Mike argued.

"They've got one highly skilled fighter, two Shinobis and one member who can knock us out for a few minutes with a dart. Pure brawn isn't going to get us very far," Donatello analysed.

"But I bet Leo will have the flag on him. So we're gonna have to confront them sooner or later."

"How can you be so sure that Leo will use that tactic? You never know, he might hide it somewhere and therefore waste our time and energy when we try to gang up on him."

"So? We'll just convince Iris to come and join our side, and she'll then tell us where their flag is," Mike refused to back down.

"And how will we manage that?" Donatello said flatly.

"She always listens to me."

"No, I mean how on earth are we going to separate Iris from the rest of her team long enough for us to convince her to swap sides?"

"Easy! Just hide in the bushes and wait for a good moment."

"…I don't think Leo will take his eyes off her long enough for us to do that," Donatello murmured bitterly, quite annoyed that none of his ideas were being accepted or even considered. Michelangelo gave him a dark glare.

"So you think that my daughter needs to be baby-sat constantly?" Mike hissed, stepping into another issue entirely. Raphael and Diana had been waiting patiently for the two adults to stop bickering, but upon hearing the new direction the conversation was going to take, neither of them could halt the frustrated groans that escaped through their mouths.

"Well she's not exactly the most reliable ninja on the planet."

"What! How can you say that?" Mike squawked.

"Um… Guys? It's been almost twenty minutes… How about you two figure out what to do with the flag while Diana and I go off and see what the other team is doing?" Raphael abruptly spoke up just before a fiery argument was about to break loose.

"Oh come on, Mike! Surely you can admit that she hasn't got that much focus!"

"She's not like that at all! Iris is smarter than you give her credit for!"

"Smarter, eh?"

"Come on… Let's just go," Raphael whispered to his half-sister. He knew that his two uncles had heard his request, it was just that they preferred to use their time and breath arguing with each other and simply felt that they couldn't spend two seconds announcing their acknowledgment of Raphael's words. With a heavy and disappointed sigh, Raph took his sister's hand in his before leading her away from the lair.

As soon as their uncles disappeared from view, now separated from the horrible environment filled with angry expressions, Raph and Diana couldn't deny the immense feeling of joy and freedom they experienced. Springing softly with each step, the pair bounded stealthily through the forest, keeping their eyes open for either a flag or the other team. Raphael grinned to himself, simply enjoying his time. He had always liked playing ninja games, but this was one of the first times where his follower seemed to actually understand what he was trying to accomplish, unlike to Iris who let the world know of her location, or unlike Gabriel who didn't communicate at all.

When no trace of the other team could be found, Raphael slowed down to a walking pace. Diana silently followed his lead. "What do you think Dad will do?" Raph quietly asked his half-sister, pausing for just a moment so he could walk by her side.

"I'm not too sure…" Diana admitted.

"Do you think Mikey's right? Do you think Dad will have the flag on him?" Raphael asked, wanting her opinion, as he wasn't completely comfortable in taking the leadership role. Being only a few years older than Diana, Raph felt as though he didn't have that much authority over the girl. Most of the time there was an adult with them who would make all the decisions for the two adolescent turtles, but whenever Raphael was left in charge, he always felt rather exposed and vulnerable, as he wasn't that confident in his ability of handling certain situations. So while the turtle knew that he should take charge and not include Diana on every little choice he had to make, he still valued her opinion quite seriously.

"Um… Well, maybe he'll think we'll think that he has it on him, therefore he might hide the flag instead," Diana prophesied.

"But what if he thinks that we'll think that he thinks to hide it because we expect him to think about what we're thinking, and then ends up doing the complete opposite," Raphael hypothesised.

"Wait… So what's Dad thinking now?"

"Um… I'm confused… I dunno what to think anymore," Raphael had lost his train of thought. Both turtles stared at each other blankly as though viewing the other's stumped facial expression would jog their memory into working again. "…Let's just not think," Raphael finally suggested.

"I think I like that plan," Diana giggled.

"I told you not to think!" Raph barked angrily, before smirking a second later and breaking his supposed mean façade. Diana giggled once again, already falling into step behind her half-brother's lead. She didn't mind being the follower. In fact from that position she loved being able to secretly admire the teenage boy in front of her, though a small part of her subconscious was still ashamed by the thoughts that intruded into her mind. However what still remained a mystery was whether her half-brother was experiencing the same contradicting thoughts as herself. In her eyes, Raphael was indeed rather handsome with a sturdy build mixed with a certain cheeky playfulness, which Diana adored as she felt like a different turtle when she was within his presence. Normally being a rational individual herself, Diana dared to be impulsive whenever Raph was around, as though she knew that her half-brother would keep her safe even if she made a hazardous mistake due to some hasty decisions.

Hunched over, minimising the risk of being seen, the two turtles progressed even further into murky depths of the forest. Light, lost breezes swirled their way through the forest floor; playfully picking up leaves, leaving no trace of the ninja's existence. Four keen eyes studied every low-lying branch, unusual rock formation and clustered patches of ferns, just hoping that by accident they would stumble over the flag's hiding place. But the longer they searched, the less hopeful they both became. It wasn't long till it was unclear as to where exactly they were. "Let's check down this way," Raphael pointed towards a group of more closely-knit trees.

"Raph… do you know where we're going?" Diana voiced her concern.

"Yeah… I know the general direction of the lair," Raph murmured, though he was starting to worry himself. They continued to walk and soon found themselves immersed in what seemed to be a more tropical section of the National Park. Thick vines draped and dangled themselves from the canopy, while a cloud of mist enveloped the area, dispersing the sunlight. Unable to see the sun itself, Raphael couldn't make a temporary compass or sundial, and therefore both turtles eventually lost track of the time.

"Raph, I think we should head back now…" Diana said, her words shaking with distress.

"…I tried turning back two hours ago…" Raphael finally admitted. Diana only gave him a shocked and fearful look in return. The male turtle sighed, blaming himself. It was his fault. He was so determined to find the opposing team's flag that he completely disregarded his gut instincts; always deciding to just peer around one last corner, bush or tree, carrying onwards with an unsatisfied feeling deeper and deeper into the unknown. Naturally he managed to convince himself that he knew how many turns he had made since the last recognisable landmark, but time had seemed to slip through his persistent fingers, and when he finally agreed to turn back, nothing seemed to make any sense. No familiarity whatsoever.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Diana started to freak out.

"I didn't want you to worry. I thought we weren't that far away from the lair!" Raphael defended his reasoning. The male watched anxiously as his half-sister started to calm down, hopefully gaining a more rational perspective. He needed her influence now. He had committed what he had always feared; falling victim to his own careless decisions and leadership. Raphael mentally swore to himself, just knowing that he should have informed his sister earlier about the problem they were facing. But whether it was ego or just the fact that Leonardo had always tried to push the ideal that Raphael would one day lead the second generation once the adults became too old, Raphael had made the wrong choice and had decided to prioritise their mission of finding the flag over their own safety.

"What about that way? Have we tried walking that way?" Diana suggested, pointing towards an imaginary pathway that winded amongst the vine-filled trees.

"We should stay put for now," Raphael stated.

"Why?"

"It'll be getting dark soon. If we stay in one place, then the others might find us. Otherwise we'll just have to try to get home tomorrow morning," Raphael formulated a sensible plan.

"Should we build a signal fire?" Diana wondered. Raph shook his head.

"I dunno if there's any humans close by," the teenage boy answered softly. Diana sighed and huffed, sitting, almost collapsing onto the forest floor. Raphael stared at her before finally lowering himself to the ground as well. They were silent for a minute, as though they were both stewing on the problem at hand. After pondering over a few unsuccessful solutions in her mind, Diana finally turned towards her older brother for strength and guidance.

"What if we can't find our way back?" Diana wondered, quite unnerved.

"Don't worry, we will. I'm sure things will start to look familiar when it gets lighter again," her half-brother reassured. Diana shivered as the cold night breeze started to flow through the forest, swishing the vines and making them sway in oval-like shapes and movements. The mist however still seemed to linger amongst the ferns, clinging onto the branches and trunks of thick, splintering trees.

"I'm hungry," Diana whispered as she drew up her legs and cuddled around her knees for warmth.

"I know. It's only for tonight though," Raph said, convincing his sister that they would definitely eat once the sun had risen again. The two turtles stared at each other as the light gradually faded away. Raphael felt extremely guilty about getting both his sister and himself lost in the woods, however the silence that fell between them wasn't out of awkwardness or anger. There was something else there. An odd little feeling that neither of them could describe. Raphael tilted his head to one side out of curiosity when he observed Diana blushing, yet he didn't question her expression.

"Raph?"

"Hmm," Raph hummed, awaiting the rest of her sentence.

"Mum and Dad are really worried, aren't they? Worried about the video tape I mean," Diana asked, voice low.

"We're all worried about it. We don't want to get caught," Raph stated.

"…What will happen if we're captured?" Diana timidly asked. It was another one of her thirteen-year-old questions where she already knew the horrible answer, though she wanted to just double check, as though she didn't want to admit to herself the severity of the situation unless someone else spelled it out for her.

Raphael only sighed and shifted his position on the floor slightly. "Diana? …How much do you remember about the zoo?" Raphael asked quietly, voice serious, though he still had that flare of curiosity behind his words.

"Not much," Diana admitted. Raphael simply stared at her as though he was expecting a longer response. "I remember being bored. Eating apples, you broke your arm, Silver attacking me," Diana listed while she gazed at her own fingernails, as though she was somewhat intimidated by the seriousness of the topic. The subject was rarely spoken about and only mentioned when it came to educating Gabriel and Iris about the dangers humans represented. It was never actually discussed about openly, like Raphael was doing now, as the adults tried their best to forget about their horrible experiences during their captivity.

Yet that was what the girl liked about Raphael. The two turtles sometimes felt separate from the clan as though they had their own set of rules. The adults, although wise, often spoke in what seemed to be an unknown language, always referring back to better times or more dangerous days filled with ninja-kicking action. The adults had lived and adapted through all the changes in their lives, and to Diana they seemed to have developed an air of arrogance as though anything the children had experienced was nothing in comparison to some other traumatic event that occurred in the past.

There also seemed to be a censorship issue where certain subjects such as Raphael's father, Morpheus, Venus' Master, Splinter, April and Casey's deaths were taboo and couldn't be brought up in conversation. Naturally the younger generation could always ask questions, it was just that they were always faced with awkward silences and general statements. If any human wanted to learn the history of their predecessors, then they could easily visit the library or hop on the Internet and research whatever piqued their curiosity. Yet the turtles couldn't do that. Instead all of the stories and exciting tales originated from only four individuals, the founders of the species, and therefore the adults had the opportunity to pick and choose what information to pass on to the next generation, allowing the truth to die with them.

Iris and Gabriel were completely different to the adults. Instead of providing wisdom of previous problems or how to persevere through unsettling events, the two youngest members of the clan were arguably the luckiest as they had never had to experience the hardships of being an endangered and rare animal. They were innocent… which was why Diana and Raphael could never really relate to them. Feeling separate from the adults, yet more mature than the children, the two teenagers frequently turned to each other in order to ponder and puzzle over why certain things happened within the clan or what had happened in the past. Their discussions always seemed exciting to Diana, as they spoke about what was considered forbidden subjects; always whispering and keeping little secrets.

"Do you remember Mum getting pregnant?" Raphael wondered.

"Not really," Diana shook her head. "Is that what will happen to me though?" she dared to ask. The boy sighed.

"I remember Don telling me once that… the scientists don't view themselves as being evil. They're only doing what they feel is beneficial to our species," Raphael said, not answering his half-sister's question directly.

"So… They'll try to increase out numbers? Right?" Diana timidly wondered.

"Yes."

"…With who? You?" Diana shyly asked, referring to who she was most likely going to be partnered up with.

"I dunno, Diana," Raphael answered, once again shifting around on his seat on the floor, making it rather obvious to the girl that he suddenly felt rather uncomfortable about the subject. Diana started to squirm as well, not blaming him for avoiding the topic. It was rare for Raphael to try and dodge a subject, as he tried his best to remain as open and as honest as possible with his younger half-sister. But in the end there always would be a topic that Raph felt unnecessary to discuss. He had his reasons for avoiding the question, and Diana understood. She knew all the answers already, but hearing someone else speak so straight and plainly about them was another matter entirely, as though all of her terrified thoughts had abruptly become a reality.

"You know what else I remember?" Diana suddenly said, wanting to change the course of the conversation. Seeing a smile emerge on her face, Raphael was convinced that she wasn't heading towards another depressing topic.

"What?"

"Meeting Uncle Donatello for the first time and wondering who on earth he was!" Diana smirked. Raphael grinned.

"Yeah… It was so weird to have another turtle around the lair," the boy agreed. "I remember that it took you about six months to finally decipher his accent," Raph smirked before chuckling to himself, as though he had just thought of something funny.

"What? What did I do?" Diana was slightly confused.

"You'd just stare at him as though he was speaking another language!" Raphael said with a big grin upon his face; so strong that his expression could have been painted on.

"Oh come on! I was only four at the time. It just took me ages to get used to how he sounded, that's all," Diana became defensive.

"Yeah, alright. You're excused," Raph said slyly, still with that permanent smirk plastered across his lips. "You know, he used to joke around with you a lot at that age. Maybe he was trying to make up for lost time or something."

"What did he do?"

"Don't you remember all the Crocodile Hunter impersonations he used to do? All the 'crikeys' and whatnot?" Raphael asked, quite amazed at how something could stand out in his mind, yet due to his sister's age, those events had faded into the background of her memory.

Diana paused deep in thought for a few seconds before reluctantly shaking her head. "I remember that he used to say 'struth', 'bludge' and 'bloody oath' a lot," Diana admitted. Another few moments passed. "Oh wait! Didn't he always make Uncle Mikey the crocodile? And then Don would tackle him to the ground?" the girl suddenly pulled out a faint memory from the recesses of her mind. Raphael chuckled, signaling that he had recalled the same thing. "I miss those days," Diana said softly in reminiscence.

"Why? What was so special back then?"

"Mike and Don were still friends in those days," Diana sighed.

"Yeah," Raphael muttered sadly. "It's a shame."

"It was all because of Morpheus, right?" Diana verbalised another one of her rhetorical questions.

"Of course," the boy answered simply, referring to the precise point in time when Don and Mike started to fight. Once again they both fell silent as they gradually digested all the grief-inducing memories of arguments and battles that seemed to infect their minds. Diana couldn't help but shiver, though it had nothing to do with her emotions but rather because of the chilling wind that seemed to continually sweep through the rain forest. The mist hadn't lifted and by now the tiny delicate water droplets had gathered on Diana's skin, making her scales feel clammy and cold to the touch. Almost being pitch black, the girl involuntarily chattered her teeth as she blindly slid her way across the ground so that she could sit up close to her half-brother. As soon as he felt her body beside him, Raphael placed a gentle arm around her, making it rather obvious that she wasn't the only one who was freezing.

"Do you think they'll ever become friends again?" Diana uttered suddenly, her voice barely breaking that of a curious whisper.

"Mike and Don? …I hope so. Though I think it'll be a while yet, unless something drastic happens," Raphael muttered his opinion.

"I hope we'll never fight like that," Diana said softly. She could almost hear Raph's eye-ridge raising.

"Why would we?" Raphael was rather puzzled by her comment.

"I dunno. If something major ever happened, then I don't want to ever fight like that. That's all," Diana murmured. It was as though she could hear Raph's understanding smile. Using his strong arms, Raphael pulled Diana closer towards him, shifting her legs so they laid across his thighs. From that position he could fully embrace her, arms wrapping around her shell for warmth, protection, but most of all so he could give her a hug. Diana didn't refuse, finding it rather warm within his grasp. Sighing, she tilted her head so it could rest against his chest, hearing every thump his heart made. Raphael leaned forward and placed his chin atop her little head, simply enjoying that feeling of closeness and comfort.

"I like you too much to ever fight like that," Raphael said. Diana wished she could see his facial expression in order to judge how serious he was. Not knowing whether he meant it in a brotherly way or not, Diana coyly decided to play along.

"So what do you like about me?" the girl wondered, pretending to act either oblivious or as if she had posed the question innocently. Once again she could hear his faint motions of a smirk.

"I like your legs," the teenage boy said, followed quickly by a giggle. Raphael knew that it wasn't exactly the answer Diana was hoping for. The girl expressed a little frown before finally giving her half-brother a slap across one of his biceps.

"Raph!" she whined in protest.

"What? You asked! And I happen to think you have very nice legs," the boy defended his reasoning. "Well, what do you like about me? You can say anything you want," Raphael compromised.

"Well… I like your smile-" Diana started.

"-I smile?" Raphael jokingly interrupted, quickly deserving another light-hearted slap across the arm.

"Fine! Your… twisted little, self-satisfied grin that you do," Diana rectified. "Like the one you're probably doing now," she added knowingly.

"You like it?" Raphael was slightly confused.

"Yes, why?"

"Just wondering," Diana could feel Raphael shrug as he spoke. "I mean… you practically admitted to liking me when I'm a complete jerk," the boy completed announcing his thoughts out loud.

"I like you no matter what you're like," Diana muttered, almost becoming shy about what she was saying.

"Good. 'Cause I ain't changing," Raphael smirked.

"I know you're not. That's why I've got to love you with all my heart no matter what you're like," Diana basically giggled, however she froze in terror when she realised what had just slipped out of her mouth. She had used the word 'love', a dangerous phrase indeed. It wasn't the first time she had said it. In fact she often said 'I love you' to all of her family members, mainly to her parents and her half-sister. It was true that Diana and Raphael had also kissed and cuddled before, but in all of those times it was done in a platonic fashion, only showing their trust and bond in each other as siblings. Yet when Diana had used the word 'love' in her last sentence, she meant it differently, referring to the feeling that all of the adults in the clan had experienced at one point in their lives or another. If saying her thoughts out loud wasn't enough, she also held a dumbstruck expression - which she was thankful that Raph couldn't see, as Diana had made the horrible mistake of admitting her love first, which all the letters in the Cosmopolitan magazine had said was the worst thing a girl could do. Her heart thumped so loud that it drummed in her ears. She was fighting the urge to just get up and run away in embarrassment, opting to never seeing Raphael again.

Diana paused, closed her eyes in prayer before finally biting her lower lip, just wishing that Raphael would interpret her words in a familial way. Yet unfortunately for her, Raphael had been listening intently to every second of their conversation that night. "Love? …In what way?" Raphael eventually asked. A part of Diana was rather impressed that her half-brother had even dared to think those words out loud, let alone straight out ask her about the context she had meant. She now had two choices. She could either deny her feelings and say that she had said it in a sisterly-way, or she could admit her feelings about the matter completely. Yet what was awkward about her decision was how Raphael was going to react. If she denied her emotions and it ended up that Raphael did have other feelings for her, then he would be rather taken aback and heartbroken. However if she admitted her feelings where Raphael had none, then there would be nothing more embarrassing for her, and their friendship would most likely just become awkward and weird.

By the time she had thought about what answer to give, there had been a long enough pause for Raphael to understand what she had really meant. Diana sighed, knowing that she might as well come clean. "Love as in…" she trailed off. Diana knew that her half-brother understood regardless. Raphael didn't move. He only sighed.

"You think of me in that way?"

"Yes," Diana shamefully admitted, rather worried as Raph hadn't dropped any hints about his feelings on the matter. "…What about you?" Diana swallowed her pride and decided to ask straight out, absolutely tired of playing games. "Do you think of me in the same way?"

"…Sometimes," Raphael admitted. He could feel his half-sister relax in his arms upon hearing his words. "How long have you felt this way about me?" The boy wondered, still holding the female turtle in his graceful, warming embrace.

"Just recently," Diana uttered. The pressure against the crown of her head increased slightly before finally returning to normal, signaling that Raphael had nodded in response. "You?"

"A while now…" Raphael sighed.

"Really?" Diana was surprised.

"…You're the only one for me," Raphael whispered.

"There's always Iris I suppose…"

Raphael scoffed at her suggestion. "I can't go after Iris… I don't know why I'd want to anyway," Raphael stated plainly.

"Why?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Raphael was quite taken aback that he actually had to explain why he didn't love his other half-sister the same way as he did Diana.

"No. I mean, why can't you go after her? …You said that I was the only one for you… But there's always Iris," Diana explained further, though she had mistaken Raphael's original comment and had interpreted it literally.

"Well, you're right. I could date her… But then who would Gabriel have? No one," the teenage boy analysed. "That's not really what I meant anyway… I don't just like you because I have no other choice… There's a lot of other factors that come into it. As I said before… you're the only one for me," Raphael cooed softly, still locked into his brotherly embrace. An uncontrollable smile swept across Diana's face. She had forgotten to mention earlier that although Raphael could be crude at times, he still had a softness about him which Diana really liked, and what he had just said had touched Diana's heart deeply.

"So you do love me then?" Diana asked hopefully.

"I love you," Raphael admitted, dissipating Diana's initial fears. "But…" Raph started, causing the female turtle's heart to instantly halt in its thumping. She breathed more slowly, anxiously awaiting the rest of his sentence, fearing the worst. "…It's complicated…" Raphael trailed off.

"Complicated? How?" Diana exclaimed, extremely worried that her feelings about him weren't returned.

"Well… It's incest…" Raphael softly pointed out the obvious fact. Diana lowered her head while she started to blush, knowing that it was true what he had said.

"But, but, you just said that I'm the only one for you," Diana started to get confused, feeling as though she was getting mixed messages from her crush.

"You are! That's why it's so complicated," Raphael said, rather frustrated with the situation.

"But if you have no other choice… then is it really that wrong?" Diana asked, trying to grasp all the issues involved if they decided to pursue onwards with their relationship.

"I dunno what's right or what's wrong anymore," Raphael sighed, his voice going back to an ashamed whisper once again.

"Well, what's the worst that can happen?" Diana wondered, attempting to sort everything out.

"We'll have abnormal or mutated kids," Raphael muttered, though as soon as those words slipped past his tongue, both turtles let out a little chuckle at the irony.

"Then what are we worrying about?" Diana asked, sounding more hopeful.

"Nothing much," Raphael summarised. He could feel the girl giggling softly in his arms. Her head lifted, causing Raphael to lean back a little bit so that Diana could sit up straight and stay at eye-level. Although it was nighttime, their eyes had adjusted, and utilising the light emanating from the moon and the starry sky, the two turtles tried their best to study each other's facial expressions. Raphael didn't know if Diana had puckered up, but when he felt her lean forward against his body slightly, he took up the initiative and gently pulled her into a kiss, just assuming that was what she was going to do anyway. Unlike Michelangelo, Raphael had guessed correctly. Although they had shared kisses before, this was the first time they had administered one on the lips. The kiss was rather long in duration, possibly a little too drawn-out, but it was that intimacy that Diana yearned for; the feeling that was so lacking with her first pash with Mike. When she finally pulled away, Diana stared into Raphael's eyes, which could only be seen because the moon's tiny silvery reflection highlighted his pupils. They had broken the first barrier. No longer were they simply brother and sister, but rather they were something more. What that something was was unclear, and neither of them knew if it caused a positive or negative twist to their friendship. In the end, it was rather like an experiment.

Not saying anything to each other for a few more minutes, the two of them continued to kiss as though they were just double checking to see if what they were doing still felt right. Yet there was still that nagging at the back of their subconscious; a little voice that was repulsed with the thoughts of incest, a concept ingrained into the brain because of their human-like upbringing. Eventually they stopped, mainly to gather their thoughts on what they had just committed.

"So… where do we go from here?" Diana quietly asked. Raphael still kept a gentle hold of his new girlfriend.

"What do you mean?" Raphael questioned, a little bit shocked, especially when he thought of an inappropriate way her words could have been interpreted. He definitely didn't want to make any advances unless everything was clarified.

"…Do we date? What do we do next?" Diana was confused on how to pursue or even progress their relationship. She could feel Raphael shrug again.

"I don't know… I've never had a girlfriend before," the male turtle stated the obvious. "…But what's the point in dating? We already know each other," Raphael murmured.

"That's true," Diana sighed. "What do you think Mum and Dad would say if they found out we're dating?" the girl wondered.

"I don't think they'd really care."

"Really? Wouldn't they be, I dunno, mad at us or something?" Diana started to worry.

"Why would they be? It's just… They've always seemed to drop hints to me that it would be okay, even since I was boy. I simply get this feeling that… they're kind of expecting us to hook up," Raphael said. Diana appreciated his honesty, absolutely adoring how open he was about both his feelings and when discussing difficult topics. He was like her private diary; Diana felt she could tell him anything and expect him to withhold her secrets, while she could read him like a book at a later date whenever she wanted to learn more about a personal subject. She admired his boldness, constantly thankful for having such a friend that she could relate to on so many levels.

"…I guess they'll have no choice but to accept it," Diana summarised. Once again, she could hear his familiar little smirk. "But where do we go from here? Do we tell anyone?" Diana questioned.

"It's up to you," Raphael spoke softly with simplicity. Diana nodded before tilting her head upwards again, her timid, petite lips leading the way, giving Raphael another kiss. There were so many unanswered questions. Not knowing where the boundaries lay, it really was just one big experiment. A journey into the unknown. Yet just like most experiments, especially ones of the teenage variety, it was easy for hidden catalysts to be discovered with one thing rapidly leading to another. One reaction turned into something else, and it wasn't long till a second, third and fourth barrier was crossed, completely destroying all hope of ever simply returning to the familial friendship they once shared.

To be continued…

Author's Notes: Thank you for the reviews everyone! Also, sorry that I've been a little slow in updating lately… I've actually been busy in real life for a change o.0! Next chapter should be fairly lengthy as well, especially when I have another one of those flashbacky thingy majiggies coming up. Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed this insanely long chapter o.0!


	9. Reality Television

Author's Note: Once again my apologies for taking so long to update. I had a series of family tragedies to deal with along with being ill myself, otherwise this would have been updated a week ago. Anyway, there's another flashback in this chapter, which is set nine months after the previous flashback detailed in chapter six. Don't worry if there's still some loose ends as there's still one more flashback to go which should fill in all the blanks.

XXXElektraXXX - No, I unfortunately haven't had the opportunity to meet Steve Irwin in person. He works in another state and I can imagine he's overseas a lot. However if I continue in my field of work, then I could end up working at his zoo, though I've heard that it's fairly hard to get employed there. ;)

Chapter Nine: Reality Television.

As soon as Diana opened her eyes to take in the morning sun, she knew that her life had irreparably changed. After spending the night with Raphael, she had no clue how to feel about what she had done. The sex wasn't like how it was portrayed on television. There weren't any wild screams of passion, nor were there any oxymoron moments where she experienced 'pleasurable pain'. The whole event was simply uncomfortable. She wished she was in a movie, where everything would feel right; feel like 'true love', but reality was so different. Diana had always thought that making love would be the greatest moment in her life, or at that very least the most fun and exciting time she would ever experience. Yet when compared to such great expectations, the whole activity was a colossal disappointment.

Diana was also under the assumption that she would magically evolve into a woman once she had given her greatest of gifts to another person, yet she still felt like a child, lost and confused. There was a small feeling of maturity, as though she was slightly older, but it wasn't in a good way, as if she could view the world in a new perspective now that she had realised that love wasn't what it was cracked up to be. Most of all, no one could have prepared her for the immense feeling of guilt she endured almost straight after deed. Did she regret her actions? Of course she did.

Diana watched silently as Raphael slowly stood up, grabbing his belt and equipping his weapons. For some reason the teenage boy didn't seem as open as he was the night before, instead presenting himself as being rather closed off from any feelings or inquiries. Diana instantly became worried. Raphael had changed as well. She had expected him to view her differently after what had happened between them, however she never guessed that he would seem to ignore her completely. Yet what the girl didn't know was that Raphael was just as confused as she was about their situation.

The adolescent boy never wanted to emotionally hurt his half-sister, but after spending the night together, he knew that it would probably be inevitable. During the heat of the moment, he felt that both of them were ready to take the next drastic step in their relationship, especially when they had known each other for years. But in hindsight he realised that neither of them were ready to advance their relationship that fast. The male turtle desperately wanted to speak to his lover openly about his feelings, but for some reason he became tongue-tied, bogged down with too many words that he wasn't able to eloquently express his feelings on the matter. Too busy thinking on how to structure his sentences, silence managed to seize the air, eventually churning it into awkwardness, which in turn only made both turtles more and more confused on what they had done. Both were partly ashamed for what they had committed, but most of all they were terrified that their friendship would never be the same again.

"We should start heading back. Dad will probably send out a search party if we don't get back home soon," Raphael said, getting worried. Diana nodded numbly, not knowing if she should mention what had happened the night before. Neither of them knew how to bring the topic up. Everything had seemed so surreal, especially now when the event seemed to be so hazy underneath all the shame, regret and guilt. The nagging at the back of their conscience had returned, interrogating them with the horrid thoughts of incest. Last night, the two half-siblings weren't even sure whether kissing was even appropriate, but after finally going all the way, they both admitted that they'd be in absolute denial if they thought that they hadn't crossed one too many boundaries.

Diana slowly fell back into step behind Raphael. Staring at his physique, she questioned whether she still had the same feelings for him. Diana still loved him, both as a sister and a girlfriend, but now her emotions were tainted with a haunting fear. This adolescent boy that she cared so deeply about now knew every intimate detail about her, and it frightened her to acknowledge that someone on the earth could possess that information. It terrified Raphael as well, though he was more concerned about what the rest of the clan would think if the news ever broke out. On the night before, no one else mattered to the couple, but now their family's approval meant the world to them.

The nightly mist had lifted completely, allowing Raphael the opportunity to learn what direction they were traveling, in accordance to the eastern rising sun. Their movements were often slow and painstaking, making sure to take careful notes of what natural landmarks they passed. Raphael frequently looked back over his shoulder, just making sure that his younger sibling was still following him. Whenever he did look directly into her gaze, Diana always thought she saw the faintest hint of a grateful smile, as though the boy was silently telling her that he still had feelings towards her. Although an awkward silence was still nestled between them, Diana gained some comfort in the fact that the male nevertheless cared about her deeply.

Knowing the contours of the land and reckoning that their lair lay roughly uphill, it wasn't long till they eventually found one of Donatello's crop plantations thanks to some educated guesswork and dumb luck. The two turtles swiftly made a transition from a brisk walk to a heavy jogging pace, wanting to reach home before their relatives decided to send out a search party. With tiny-leafed ferns whipping across their knees and thighs, they stealthily ran through the forest, not creating a single sound as they bounded towards the lair. Raphael slowed his fast pace when they were getting close, causing Diana to decrease her speed as well. Slightly puffing, Raphael once again glanced at his half-sister but blushed immediately shortly afterwards. Diana frowned when she noticed that he was staring at something on her neck. "What?" she asked, rather baffled at his horrified gaze.

The adolescent boy timidly pointed to a spot on her neck. "You have a, um…" he trailed off. Confused, Diana tried her best to crane her head so she could observe the very base of her neck, right where it started to flatten out and form her shoulders. She gulped in panic when she spotted something red in the corner of her eye. It was a hickey. A so-called love bite. Diana's eyes went wide with the fear of discovery. Knowing that she would be hesitant to return home, Raphael quickly stepped forward and rearranged her bandanna. "We'll just um… cover it up," Raphael murmured, biting his lip with worry shortly afterwards. Thankfully for them, Diana's bandanna tails were now long enough to be draped a little bit over her shoulder. He then gently took her hand in his and started to lead her towards their lair.

"Raph!" Diana wailed, stopping and pulling on her brother's arm. "I can't go back like this!"

"You know we have to! We can't let Mum and Dad worry about us!" Raphael tried to reason with her.

"But, but what should I do?" Diana stuttered.

"Just… Just don't move your head," Raphael suggested unconvincingly. Diana frowned, though her expression was filled more with fear than with displeasure. Giving her a little tug, Raphael nervously led his half-sister through the last couple of trees, finally stepping out into what was considered as their home territory.

"Raph! Diana!" Leo called out excitedly. The two turtles gave him a nod. It seemed that the family was just on the verge of leaving the lair in order to search for the pair of missing members. Breaking away from the others, Leo and Venus rushed up to greet them. Don and Mike walked over to the teenagers as well, though they stood a couple of steps away as though they felt guilty about getting separated in the first place. Judging from their sheepish expressions, Diana and Raph gathered that Leonardo had already lectured their argumentative uncles already. "What happened? We were worried about you when you didn't come home last night," Leonardo asked, though he held a large smile on his face, obviously relieved that everyone was safe.

"We got lost. So we stayed in the one spot overnight and then tried to make our way back home this morning," Raphael summarised. Leo nodded, agreeing with his adopted son's line of reasoning. Glancing over at his daughter, the clan leader frowned with curiosity when he spotted something on the girl's shoulder.

"What happened?" Leo asked, pointing to his own shoulder as a reference to what he was referring to. Diana immediately shied away with worry while she thought up a bogus story.

"I was bitten by a bull ant in the middle of the night," Diana lied. Her father stared at the red marking for a few seconds longer, raised an eye-ridge, before finally removing his gaze altogether, leaving Diana and Raphael to ponder whether he suspected anything unusual.

"It's good to have you home," Venus said, welcoming her two children, breaking the awkward silence that followed Leo's inquiry. After receiving a brief lecturing from Leonardo about staying within the areas of the island that had been explored previously by one of the adults, Diana and Raphael were finally free to complete their regular tasks for the day. At the first available opportunity, Raphael vacated the lair, telling the others he was going fishing. Diana sighed, wanting to be able to speak with him despite the fact that the conversation would have been extremely awkward. Feeling incredibly alone, Diana sat by herself in the alcove that was considered to be her room. She wanted to pour her heart out in tears, but she held off from crying, as the fear of being questioned was far greater than her feelings of shame and guilt. She didn't realise it, as it wasn't long till she lost track of the time, but Diana sulked in her bedroom for a number of hours, causing the others to ponder her unusual behaviour anyway.

"How are you going?" Donatello eventually approached Diana; the curiosity of her idleness had finally overwhelmed the older turtle.

"Alright," Diana muttered, avoiding eye contact.

"What happened to your neck?" Donatello asked, raising an eye-ridge. He watched as the girl squired uncomfortably under his suspicious gaze.

"I was stung by a bee. That's all," Diana mumbled, subconsciously covering the mark with one of her bandanna tails again, though it did little to hide the red marking.

"A bee, huh?" Donatello repeated, not believing her story. "So what really happened?" The adult asked again. A brief flicker of terror could be seen in Diana's eyes, though she quickly covered up her shocked expression.

"I told you! I was stung by a bee!" Diana defended her story.

"I highly doubt that," Don commented as he sat down beside the girl. "Especially when you suffer from a severe bee sting allergy. If you were stung by one and didn't receive treatment, then you'd be dead by now… Also, I overheard you telling your father this morning that it was a bull ant," Donatello explained, tearing the girl's alibi to shreds. The purple-wearing turtle already had an inkling of what the truth was, so did the other adults in the clan. None of them wanted to bring it up, but with Raphael in incommunicado and with Diana being so insecure, Donatello thought it would be best if he spoke with the girl just so that she had the opportunity to confide in someone she felt comfortable with. The conversation would have been too awkward with the girl's parents, while Michelangelo had already disappeared into the woods as well, obviously dealing with his own issues. So that left Donatello to listen to the girl's problems.

Diana immediately burst into tears when she realised that her secret had been blown. Donatello was startled by her extreme reaction, worriedly placing an arm around her shoulders in order to try and calm her down. "Shh, what is it? What's wrong, Diana?" Don tried his best to comfort the female. "I won't tell anyone else about it," the adult coaxed. He watched as a few more tears dribbled freely down her green cheeks. When it came to letting out her emotions, Diana often took after her mother, with a technique the rest of the family nicknamed 'pretty crying', where the two females could let out a few tears and still look completely fine afterwards. Yet Diana was heaving with sobs, and even though she had only been crying for a minute, Donatello knew that she was going to look terrible later on - puffy red eyes and all. It quickly dawned on Donatello that the problem was serious and that he might already be in over his head on what he could possibly advise the girl to do in order to solve the dilemma.

The girl shuddered, "I slept with Raphael." For a whole second Donatello had thought he had been imagining things, especially when Diana's confession was barely audible. But soon her words hit his ears like a roaring tsunami, deafening his mind with its billions of spontaneous questions. He had expected it to have gone as far as kissing, but not _that_ far. Donatello had guessed correctly – he was in over his head.

The first issue that sprung to his mind was the girl's age. Thirteen was awfully young. Although Diana may not have thought so twenty-four hours prior to the event, it was clear now to Don that she would probably agree with him on that point alone. A grim expression of sadness slowly etched itself onto the adult's face, as he knew that in more recent times, a child acting older than what they were really prepared for was quickly becoming a common issue. Over the past decade, childhood had been shortened; all thanks to the constant bombardment of sexual images featured in various television shows, movies and advertisements. For so long the media had been relying on the 'sex sells' technique, that for the first time in history, the idea was beginning to fail as society was begging for more creativity rather than titillation as the whole concept no long held that desired shock value. Yet, as always, it still dragged in and fascinated the most curious viewers; teenagers. It hurt Don's heart to realise that Diana was simply another victim to the media's glorification, where the truth of matter was hidden away, as it really wasn't all as sweet as sugar.

The second barrage of thoughts that invaded Donatello's mind was that the two turtles had indeed committed incest. Usually whenever someone was terribly upset about something, the listener would respond almost immediately with calming phrases such as 'it's alright,' or 'that's okay'. Donatello couldn't even offer his niece that. Was it alright? Was it okay? His mind then circled what he had thought about in previous times where, for the survival of their species, inbreeding was essential. In fact, he started to internally argue that thirteen was not too young at all and that it would help their plight, considering the earlier the females started conceiving, the more offspring they would produce during their lifetime. Yet Donatello felt that it was incredibly dangerous to start thinking of his niece as some kind of experiment. They did consider themselves to have morals, and that was where most of their problems lay. In the end Donatello was so confused as to what to advise the girl, that all he did was pull her into calming hug and physically offer her a shoulder to cry on.

"I felt so uncomfortable," Diana sobbed into the top ridge of her uncle's plastron, not seeming to notice the adult's constant silence. Upon hearing her words, Donatello began to question another issue entirely. Something more dark, more sinister.

He gently pushed the girl away from him, only so he could see into her eyes and judge her expression. "Diana… this is very important. Did you, at any time, say 'no'?" Donatello sternly asked, fearing the worst. He didn't honestly believe that Raphael would do something like that, but he thought to ask just the same. The girl shook her head before resting her face into Don's shoulder again.

"No… It, it wasn't like that," the girl assured him, her voice muffled by his skin.

"You do know that you can say 'no' at any time, right?"

"Yes," Diana answered. Donatello sighed and relaxed a little, understanding the nature of her situation. "I feel so stupid," the girl admitted, heaving another sob, now starting to sound more tired than upset.

"You're not stupid," Don said to the girl. "Did you know that eighty-one percent of girls aged thirteen to twenty-one regret their first time?" the adult delicately asked. Diana leaned back slightly so she could look her uncle in the eyes.

"Really?" The purple-wearing turtle nodded his head rather matter-of-factly in response. "But why do I feel so guilty?" Diana's curiosity was beginning to stir.

Don sighed and brought the girl into another cuddle. "It means that your conscience is working. As for the actual guilt, people feel guilty for different reasons," he tried his best to explain. Don watched as Diana shakily raised a hand to her eyes so she could start wiping away a few of the tears.

"It's just… I wasn't expecting it to be like that…" Diana confessed in a whisper.

"I know," Don replied with the same amount of noise volume, solemnly remembering his own regretful experience. "But I suppose if it really was how it is portrayed in the movies, then no one would ever stop their love making, ever. Whole cities would fall and society would crumble, and frankly no one would give a damn. But of course, it isn't like it is in the movies. With an average time of eleven minutes and with three million sperm per milliliter of fluid where it'll only take one to get pregnant, it really isn't that appealing when you think of it like that. You see Diana, the media has a tendency to glorify all the physical aspects and never really portrays the more emotional side of sex, which is ironic considering it's our feelings which separates us from the animals and makes the gesture more special in the first place," Donatello started to analyse. Diana could tell that her uncle had thought about this topic before, and while she thought that he was being rather cynical, she still developed more of an understanding through his reasoning.

"Why didn't anybody tell me I'd feel this way?" Diana wept, still desperately trying to wipe away all of her tears. The girl knew that her efforts of making herself look more presentable were useless at that point because she was as fragile as a leaky pipe, but that didn't stop her from trying anyway. Donatello sighed.

"…You're right. Someone should have told you… but would you have taken any notice?" The adult calmly asked. The girl suddenly gave her uncle a shocked look.

"I would have listened!" Diana squawked, though her words seemed empty. Don gave her a weak smile before finally shaking his head.

"Diana… There are some things in life that you just have to learn for yourself. You know, I once made the exact same mistake you did. While we can place some of the blame on the media or our parents for not telling us everything, in the end it was a decision made by two people, and as part of that choice, there's nothing you can do but deal with the consequences of your actions," Donatello said very softly. Although Diana outwardly felt that Don was being rather harsh with what he was saying, deep down she knew what he meant. Last night, she knew what she was doing, and even if she had known more information, Diana couldn't deny the fact that it most likely still wouldn't have changed the outcome of her decisions. Although she didn't want to admit it, Diana realised that Don was rather wise in suggesting that instead of dwelling on the actual event itself, she instead needed to look towards the future. Thinking along those lines, Diana suddenly let out a scared gasp.

"I'm not pregnant, am I?" Diana fearfully asked. Earlier that week, the idea of having children intrigued the girl, but after going through all the prerequisites, Diana had learned the hard way that she was nowhere near ready enough to look after a baby. Previously the thought of something loving her unconditionally was appealing… now it was simply horrifying. Don looked at her face and noticed that she was panic-stricken; her tears seemingly frozen with terror upon her cheeks. It was the first time that he too had begun to ponder the possibility. Once again Donatello didn't know how to answer. He only wanted to be honest with the girl and emphasise the point that it takes two to tango, but he also didn't want to outright scare his niece.

"…Maybe, maybe not," was all Don could say in response. His heart seemed to shiver when Diana collapsed into a fit of tears once again.

"What will I do?" Diana cried out, looping her arms around Don's neck and squeezing him tightly as though she was only four years old again.

"Hey, it's alright. We don't know for certain yet," Don pointed out gently, as he rhythmically rubbed her carapace in an attempt to calm her down once again.

"But what if I am?" Diana was freaking out.

"Then we'll work something out, don't worry. We'll decide what to do later on if it comes to that," Don soothed.

"Mum and Dad will be so angry with me!" Diana wept.

"They're not going to disown you or anything! They'll understand and the whole clan will help you, so don't worry too much about it for now until it's actually confirmed. Okay?" Donatello slowly repeated, just wanting the girl to stop crying. He sighed with relief when Diana finally nodded, signaling that she acknowledged his words. She looked up, causing Donatello to frown when he realised her eyes were redder and more irritated than ever before. The teenager sniffled and started to once again try and wipe away her tears.

"What if I'm pregnant and Raph freaks out?" Diana continued on with her twenty questions.

"Diana… I think you really need to talk to Raphael about this."

"I feel so awkward around him now. I don't even know if he still loves me!" The girl was close to wailing.

"You know… he probably thinks the exact same thing about you. That's why you two have got to sort some things out. You've got to decide whether or not you're going to continue this relationship and what your feelings on the matter are, otherwise things are always going to be unresolved," Donatello softly explained to his niece. The teenager fell silent. A few days ago she felt that she could be entirely independent, and now she found herself acting like a scared youngster once more. "Would you like me to speak to Raphael about this then?" Don offered when Diana didn't say anything in response.

"No… It'll just make him wonder who else I've told," the girl answered quietly, finally owning up to the responsibility. Don nodded, understanding completely. "Thank you," she whispered.

"For what?" The adult was baffled, especially when he felt as though he hadn't helped the situation at all.

"For telling things straight…" Diana mumbled, thankful to have an uncle like Don who she could confide in and seek information from.

The purple-wearing turtle was about to say _'If it wasn't for me, then who else would tell you these things?'_ but he held his breath and instead only gave the girl another one of his weak smiles. "That's okay. Thanks for trusting me," Don murmured, seeing that Diana was finally cheering up for good this time. There was one other issue that Donatello wanted to mention, and that was about the possibility of abnormalities due to in-breeding. Although he felt the need to warn his niece about the dangers of dating her half-brother, at that point in time he really didn't want to scare or stress out the girl any further. Since he had had first hand experience with genetic disasters, Donatello believed that he was the only one qualified to teach the young turtle about such topics. But even though he was terrified himself of the outcomes of incest, he knew that it was inevitable and that he would only succeed in making Diana bawl her eyes out again. He was certain that the younger generation knew of the problems associated with dating each other anyway, though sometimes he had to question whether they took everything seriously. Yet Don knew for a fact that genetic abnormalities weren't some kind of myth. After all, the memories of Morpheus were still fresh in his mind…

"So what are you going to call it?" Donatello could remember Michelangelo asking him all those years ago.

"It?"

"You know. What would you call your kid if it's a girl, and what would you call it if it's a boy?" Mike reworded his question. Donatello gave him a long and thoughtful stare as though he had never trivialised over what name to give. Instead he was quite shocked that his non-blood related brother had brought up the topic at all, though Don figured he was simply returning the favour considering Don had asked Mike the same question four years previously.

"I haven't thought it… But I guess I'll just stick to the whole Greek thing. So, if it's a boy, then I'll think I'd call him Morpheus," Donatello said while he made up his mind. The name of his future child was the last thing on the purple-wearing turtle's mind, but he was content in the fact that Mike was talking to him even if it was solely out of forced politeness and blatant curiosity. Don also wondered if Mike had asked him out of pity, as in just a few days time he would find himself in the same position as his comedic brother – a single parent.

Later on that week, Sarah would visit Hawaii again, and as Don had once originally thought, most likely for the last time. The turtles knew that it was only going to be a delivery, in every meaning of the word. It was clear to the clan that there was no way that Sarah would take part in raising Don's child. She was simply going to give birth, then hand it over to the turtles, as though she was traveling thousands of miles just to donate a bothersome package. Donatello could remember that the waiting for the days to tick by was more excruciating than witnessing the birth itself. He was just so anxious during that week; his mind so worried that he only ever succeeded in procrastinating in the days that led up to his son's immersion into the real world.

"Morpheus?" Mike scoffed. "You can't name your kid after a Matrix character!"

"What not? You named your daughter after your favourite song. Besides, Morpheus is the Greek god of dreams, so the name still fits the theme," Donatello argued smartly. Although somehow their brief conversation had turned into a mini-conflict, Don still appreciated the fact that Mike was simply only trying to take his mind off things.

The next thing that Donatello remembered was the aftermath that followed the baby being born. Sarah had flown over to Kauai a whole week before the birth; wearing loose-fitting, baggy outfits so she could hide her large bulge and pass it off as weight so that she would be given permission to fly. Once in Hawaii, she stayed at the camp nearby the woods where only the park warden grew suspicious when he didn't see Sarah for most of week. Instead of staying inside her cabin made out of wooden logs, the turtles collected her in the middle of the night and carefully led her back to the lair under the soft glow of some 'borrowed' flashlights. Thinking back to those days, Don couldn't help but admire Sarah's bravery, as she was the only woman he knew that would do such extreme actions while heavily pregnant. He couldn't even begin to imagine how terrified she must have been to give birth in the middle of nowhere, with no pain killers of any sort, no sterile environment, and to not even be sure in what species she was creating. All the previous children had been hatched out of an egg. This time the baby had been inside a womb for nine months, and no one had clue what was going to come out.

Donatello never found out the real reason why Sarah had never returned any of his emails after their little night fling, though as she stayed as a guest in their isolated home, Don came to believe that maybe the human was just simply ashamed with herself. She had made love to a turtle; a creature of another species, and Don suspected that maybe she was scared of what that would make her. Sarah was the first, and quite possibly the last human to fall in love with their kind, and Don wondered how those thoughts plagued her mind. Yet then again, Don could have been wrong and it might have been all to do with the fact that she had been drunk, even though he didn't think she was that intoxicated at the time. Or it could have been a great number of different things. All Donatello knew was that he ranked the week prior to Morpheus' birth really high in his list of the most unbearable times in his life.

Donatello didn't even remember most of the birth itself. Originally he was the one who was going to deliver the baby. Yet when Sarah started yelling about contractions, his whole body turned numb and unresponsive, causing Michelangelo to quickly step in and take control of the situation instead. Naturally Mike complained about that later, but Don no longer cared. He was now a single parent. His life and how he portrayed the world had just been altered forever. Yet even though those days of anxious waiting and hours of panicked pushes seemed to just slip by unnoticed in Don's memory, there was one brief millisecond that he would never forget. For that short moment, he remembered it so clearly that he felt that he could taste the atmosphere of the past.

It was the millisecond straight after Sarah's final push. Don could hear his own blood pumping in his ears as he strained to listen for any noise. There was no crying. Donatello couldn't see anything because Mike had his back to him, but he could sense that the orange-wearing turtle was doing something to the newborn. Later on Don found out that Mike was clearing the infant's blocked airways, though Donatello had always secretly wished that he hadn't. Like the sudden beep of a car horn, Don's son, Morpheus, began to wail for the first time. For a split second he was relieved… that was until he actually saw the baby.

It wasn't human, but it wasn't exactly a turtle either. One thing was for certain, and that was that the child was a mutant. A monster. Donatello always knew that their DNA shared certain genetic sequences with their human counterparts. He had even read an article from Dr Quease which stated that the Yesmal Turtle had as much in common with a human as a gorilla does. Yet from observing Morpheus' freakish form, it seemed that three percent of genetic differentiation went a long way. It looked as though the bare essentials such as lungs, the heart and the brain were the only things that were compatible together and fully formed, while the rest of his body seemed to be the result of mismatched and incomplete genetic codes. Morpheus' skin matched the Caucasian colour of his mother, though its texture looked scaly and paper thin, causing Don to seriously question whether the child would live long enough to experience his first reptilian sloughing. In some sections his skin looked so frail that he questioned whether Mike was bruising the infant just by holding him, especially when in some places he could see some of the veins and arteries pumping underneath. There was no visible shell, though Morpheus had a large hump across his back, as though the carapace was developing underneath, just wanting to break through the thin top layer of skin. None of the boy's fingers and toes were properly formed, as though his genes couldn't sort themselves out and decide whether to settle on three fingers or five, so instead he was left with a variety of mutated stumps that were quite useless. His eyes were brown and glazed over, while his skull took the form of his father. There was a little lump of cartilage surrounding the nostrils, as though the body was intending to grow a proper nose later on. The mouth had no lips, and instead was just a small opening that could flap open and shut.

After hearing the baby's wails, Don knew that the infant would have breathing difficulties throughout its entire life. Donatello even wondered if Morpheus would be able to ever move around on his own. For most part, the boy looked like he was going to be vegetable for most of his life; some kind of crying parasite that would beg for food and nothing else. Donatello couldn't help but feel that he was simply paying the price for his mistakes. He should never have slept with Sarah. It was obvious from staring at the abomination that humans and turtles were never meant to share their DNA. Now he was stuck with a burden of a child who could never be discovered by the outside world. If scientists ever found out that the Yesmal Turtle and humans could crossbreed, then more pathetic life forms such as Don's son would be created until _something worthwhile would be needlessly engineered in the name of science. No member in the clan could ever forget Morpheus' face, as he was a direct warning of the impending genetic disasters that awaited their species._

"Where's Raphael?" Diana's question snapped Don out of his reminiscing state of mind. Donatello shook his head slightly as though he wanted to shake all those horrifying memories out of his head. He had decided a few minutes ago that Diana didn't need to be reminded of Morpheus' mutated body. The girl already had too many things on her mind and the last thing she had to worry about was what her baby would look like if it did end up that she was pregnant.

"I think he said that he was going fishing," Don slowly answered. "I'll find him for you. You should stay here for now," the adult advised.

"But-"

"-You don't want your father to ask what's wrong, do you?" Don inquired. The girl immediately shook her head. "I'll find him. Don't worry," Don promised before giving his niece a kiss atop her head. A few seconds later he set off into the forest, hoping to bring back the red-wearing recluse.

* * *

"This has got to be the stupidest thing we've ever done," Dr Yesmal complained to his female coworker as he trudged on foot through the woods, tranquilizer dart gun in hand.

"It's not as though we had much of a choice," Susan Aquel shrugged in response, accepting the difficulties of carrying out their research. Not being allowed to fly helicopters or drive anything that would disturb or destroy native plants and grasses that grew on the forest floor, the two scientists had no other option than to track down their targets on foot. It was no doubt an idiotic decision especially when the turtles were considered highly dangerous and unpredictable animals. Having no other form of protection except for the tranquilizer dart gun they hugged defensively to their chests, neither scientist could admit that they felt completely safe in their foreign surroundings.

Their mission thankfully was simpler than the capturing method. All they had to do was take down a couple of measurements, before attaching a little contraption they had developed with the help of a couple of film students also staying at the camp. All they had to do was knock out one of the turtles, though they both knew from previous experience that it sounded easier than what it actually was.

"Yeah, well, we should have thought of something… safer," Dr Yesmal continued to complain, not used to doing fieldwork. The female scientist couldn't help but grin at his displeasure. The two humans continued to wade through the ferns, anxiously peering around tree trunks and scanning the ground for footprints, timidly searching for any signs of the reptiles' whereabouts. All of a sudden Dr Yesmal fired his rifle.

Dr Aquel felt as though she had jumped two feet straight up into the air out of fright. "What the-"

"-I got him!" The man sounded excited. Surprised and worried at the same time, Dr Aquel looked in the direction her coworker had fired. Sure enough, one of the turtles desperately tried to stumble away, but Dr Yesmal was already hot on his trail. Dr Aquel gasped, immediately recognising the male turtle as Raphael, due to the red bandanna he wore across his face.

The teenage boy had been terribly distracted, with his mind filled to the brim with conflicting thoughts concerning his relationship with his half-sister. With his senses so diluted, he hadn't even noticed the two humans bumbling around in the forest until it was too late. He mentally swore at himself for not keeping his guard up; it had been so long since he had actually been in mortal danger. The tranquil stung his shoulder as he tried to make a run for it. His legs began to quiver under the mass of his shell. Raphael breathed rapidly in effort as he tried to keep moving, stumbling around, heading for any decent place to hide. Staggering, Raphael suddenly felt himself fall to the floor. The two scientists seemed to be on top of him in an instant.

"You didn't calculate the dosage correctly! He's not unconscious yet!" Dr Yesmal barked angrily. They didn't want to knock the turtle unconscious for hours at a time like they used to do as that would conflict with their new contract. Instead they only wanted him to be unconscious for a period of ten minutes. The turtle was immobolised, but the scientists had to question how long it would take before Raphael gained back the full usage of his limbs.

"Just get to work already!" Dr Aquel began to panic. Raphael tried to say something in protest, but all that he could manage to form was a few garbles and growls. Dr Yesmal stared straight into the reptile's eyes, realising that this was the creature that was responsible for so much grief in his life. A small part of the man didn't want to do anything at all except exact his revenge, but he knew that it wasn't the right time. The male scientist hadn't made up his mind yet about what he would do to the turtle, but all he wanted was for the animal to suffer.

Raphael panted and panicked as the two humans poked and prodded him, measuring the length of his body and shell, taking saliva and blood samples. Dr Aquel seemed to be the only one who understood that Raph was becoming highly stressed under his conscious state, and tried to make the observations as fast as possible. Finally, before leaving, Raphael surveyed in horror as something was wrapped and tightened around his neck.

Raphael watched and started to calm down when the two scientists eventually left his side. Although he felt extremely violated, he also felt horribly confused, knowing that what the humans had done was completely different to what they usually did. How come he wasn't in a cage? What did they really want with him? Most of all, he desperately wanted to know what had been latched around his neck. Vision blurring, Raphael was stuck, unable to move on the forest floor for ten minutes. Soon a slightly painful tingling sensation flowed through his body, as though his limbs had finally decided to wake up again. Little by little, he managed to sit himself up, his vision slowly returning to normal once again. The first thing he did was inspect his new accessory.

It was a collar. As his fingers slid and danced all over the strap of what seemed to be leather, Raph held a baffled expression on his face when he realised that he couldn't find the buckle to undo it. Continuing to feel around, he eventually came across what felt like a lens on the front part of the contraption. That was when he figured out the scientists' motive. He had seen it before on documentary films. Ingeniously inserted into the collar was a small camera, filming his every move. Raphael sighed in annoyance. For the second night in a row, he couldn't go home.

To be continued…


	10. Collared

Author's Note: First of all, thank you for all the reviews. I was so worried about the last chapter that I honestly thought that someone was going to say that I had no idea about what I was talking about o.0! Anyway, because of the way the story is planned, not much really happens in this chapter as it's sort of in-between a few major events but is still needed as a lead up to them. The next two chapters however will be quite busy.

Chapter Ten: Collared.

Raphael's initial reaction was to try and take the radio collar off. Squeezing his fingertips in-between the leather and his neck, the teenager tried his best to stretch it out, just hoping that he would be able to pull it over his head. He grunted in defeat when he realised that he was being too optimistic. Raphael quickly learned that it wasn't like a noose that could either tighten or expand, probably because the scientists would have feared that he could accidentally choke to death if they used that tactic. Instead the collar was set in a predetermined length or circumference, as though it had been buckled, however Raphael couldn't feel anything to support his hypothesis.

Yet naturally one try wasn't enough. Starting off slow before entering a mad frenzy, Raphael gripped the annoying collar and yanked it repeatedly, either wishing it would snap or through some magic he would be able to slip it over his head. Emitting a low growl, Raphael tried pulling the other way, hoping to get it over his shoulders and shell even though they were much wider than his skull. Anything was worth a try at that point. "Ow!" Raphael yelped when he had yanked the strap of leather so hard that he felt a twinge of pain in his neck. He hissed when he surmised that one of his muscles had suddenly been caught underneath either a disc or bone. Raph grumbled as he stopped his pulling motions just long enough for him to try and massage out the pain at the top of his spine.

Not being able to go home and now being provoked by pain, Raphael's mood swiftly turned sour. All of his frustration hurriedly swamped his arms and legs, his whole body eventually brimming with an explosive amount energy just pleading to be released in a mad fury. Raphael never knew where this primitive desire to enter into a tantrum originated from. He considered himself a fairly patient individual, however he couldn't deny that small streak of rage that seemed to be embedded into the fibers of his genes. Every so often the blinding anger would surface and cloud his mind, rapidly taking control of his body. Raphael didn't know why it happened, but he did know that it needed to be released, and quickly.

Completely pissed off, Raphael emitted loud, long growl that ascended into an annoyed shout. Unleashing his frustrations, he whipped his hands around, grabbing and yanking the surrounding ferns out of the soil before furiously hurtling the uprooted plants back towards the ground. He kicked the dirt, sending dust and dark sand particles scattering and floating through the air. When that wasn't enough, he rabidly picked up pebbles and rocks, only for them to be thrown almost as soon as he had got a hold of them. Sticks were kicked and snapped in anger while leaves were ripped off some of the shorter trees. Eventually he resorted to sparring with the trunks of trees, punching and kicking the bark.

Raphael felt so hopeless that he felt like he needed to convince himself that he was still in control, like he still had some power, which was why he resorted to such violent tactics. Puffing from exhaustion and bleeding from all the punches his knuckles had endured, the turtle calmed down for a split second in order to gather his scattered thoughts once again. Realising the state that he was in, Raphael only became angry with himself for being so stupid and wasting his energy when instead he should have focused on the actual problem. Then, going full circle, Raphael entered another fit of rage, once again attempting to yank the collar over his head, ignoring the pain in his neck which immediately returned. Growling, Raph bashed his whole body repeatedly against the trunk of the tree that he attacked earlier, this time hoping through some bizarre reasoning that the collar might break or disintegrate upon impact.

With his muscles aching from being either used too recklessly or from a build up of acid due to his erratic breaths, Raphael finally stopped his rampage. Now the teenage boy just wanted to bellow out and cry, but he refrained from doing so, determined not to let such a simple little device defeat him. As he tiredly lowered his arms to rest and dangle by his sides, his hands brushed up against the handle of his weapons – the sai. In an instant Raph withdrew one of them, twirled it causally around in his hand while he paced in an attempt to gather his thoughts. Unlike most sai that were sold in martial art stores, Raphael's where sharp and deadly. Originally the sai was designed for farming purposes before it was adopted by the karate fighting style many centuries ago, which the turtles always thought was ironic considering the very meaning of karate meant 'empty hand'. Yet over the years the weapon had evolved into a dagger and a projectile while it could even be used for grappling and disarming an opponent. While Leonardo had always told the adolescent turtle that a weapon was only as strong as the person who wields it, Raphael and his father alike had always thought that the sai was the most versatile of weapons.

Staring at the rather heavy, shiny pronged instrument, Raphael came up with a brash idea. It didn't have a blade as such, but the sai was extremely sharp, and Raphael reckoned that he could eventually scratch and weaken the leather enough for it to snap right off. At the very least he figured that he could disrupt the live camera footage. Taking and holding a deep breath, Raph pointed the weapon towards himself, slowly bringing the tip closer and closer to his neck. He groaned and then relaxed, dropping his hand down by his side again. "What am I doing?" Raph muttered to himself in disbelief, almost chuckling his words, but he returned to being serious before he could giggle about his own stupidity. He sighed knowing that using his sai wouldn't work. Firstly, he couldn't see what he was doing because of the position of the collar on his body. Secondly, if he had slipped or poked too deep through the device, he would have stabbed his own neck, and then he would have a more serious issue to worry about other than the scientists discovering their lair.

Reluctantly giving up, Raphael leaned his carapace against the trunk of the damaged tree before slowly sliding downwards in order to sit on the forest floor. He admitted that he needed someone else to help him. Raphael pondered whether he could just cover the camera lens up with his bandanna, but he figured that the collar also had a tracking device attached and the scientists would find the location of their lair regardless of whether they had any visual confirmation or not. Raph grunted in annoyance for the umpteenth time when he realised that he had no choice but to wait until help from his family arrived. He hoped that they wouldn't be too angry with him…

Hours passed and Raphael had drifted off to sleep, still slightly drowsy from the affects of the sedative. "Raph!" The boy absentmindedly heard someone call out. "Raph!" The turtle opened his eyes in response, finally coming out of his slumber. It was Donatello.

"Stay there! Don't come any closer!" Raphael yelled out in a panic. But it was too late. Donatello stopped a fair distance away, but Raph knew that his uncle would have already been caught on camera.

"What is it?" Don loudly whispered from his position, wondering if it was a trap or if someone was using his nephew as bait. Raphael groggily stood up and rubbed his eyes.

"The scientists… they attached something to my neck. I think it's a video camera," Raphael reported. The boy could hear his uncle's sigh.

Donatello cursed himself for not noticing the collar sooner. The last thing he had wanted was to be caught on tape. No human had seen him for years, and now he had just provided them with proof that not only he was with the rest of his family, but also that he was within the United States and could easily be captured again by the military considering that no world politics would have to be overcome. Don didn't know how highly sought after he was, or if Intelligence wanted him at all anymore, but he couldn't help but feel that he was placing the rest of the clan in danger.

Don frowned and relaxed his tense stance, figuring that he had already been filmed and that there really was no point in hiding. Raphael ashamedly turned away as Donatello calmly approached, pointing the camera in a different direction even though it was rather futile. "I'm sorry," Raph whispered, feeling extremely guilty, knowing how much his uncle valued the secrecy of his existence.

"You couldn't help it," Don mumbled in defeat. "Let's just get this off."

Raphael remained still and continued to face away as Donatello inspected the collar. "Well?" Raph inquired when he felt Don's fingers slide around the leather band. "Can you get it off?"

"I need a screwdriver."

"What?"

"Okay, there's a buckle, right? Well that buckle is covered by an additional flap of leather, which in turn is specially screwed into the actual collar. That's why you wouldn't have been able to get it off by yourself. You can't get to the buckle until you unscrew the flap," Donatello calmly explained as he looked around the forest floor.

"But I can't return home like this!" Raphael started to panic once again.

"Don't worry, you won't. The screws are fairly large, so if we just find a small rock or a piece of wood or something that's the right size and shape…" Donatello trailed off, venturing away from his nephew, eyes focused on the ground. Raphael tried to look at his uncle without pointing the camera towards him. A few seconds later Don returned to stand by his side, this time with a small variety of stones in his hand. Using his peripheral vision, Raph watched as Don fished through his little collection until he came across an oblong-shaped rock that was tapered and thinned on one side, thus having a rather sharp edge to it. A few seconds later, Raphael could hear and feel a grinding along his neck. "It's a bit hard… but I'm getting there," Don kept Raph informed, becoming slightly annoyed that his rock kept slipping out of the indent at the top of the screw. Eventually the brainy turtle could simply use his fingers to twirl it around and dislodge the bothersome little sliver of metal.

As soon as the last screw came loose, Don swiftly rummaged his fingers over the buckle and easily removed the collar from Raph's neck. "Thanks," Raph said with a large, grateful grin, rubbing the back of his sore neck with a spare hand. The teenager raised an eye-ridge when Donatello grumped in reply, already absorbed in studying the collar. Raph frowned, finding it rather ironic that for a turtle who was so scared of the video camera, Don certainly didn't mind the troublesome object when it could finally be dissected into it's basic electronic components.

"The design is fairly crude…" Raphael heard his uncle mumble to himself. "It seems to be a video camera, radio collar and microphone all rolled into one," Don assessed.

"Microphone?" Raphael's eye-ridge furrowed.

Donatello shrugged. "Seems like it. Looks like they're trying something different this time around," he summarised, still inspecting the collar as best he could without placing his face directly into the camera's field of vision. After learning everything he could from the object, Donatello carelessly dropped it on the ground. "We should head back and tell the others," the purple-wearing turtle ordered. Walking a few steps towards the lair, Don suddenly remembered the original reason why he was looking for his nephew. "Oh, and Diana's also been wanting to talk to you about something… It seemed rather important," Donatello slyly dropped a hint. He turned around in time to see Raphael look nervously away, gaze distant, mind scrambling with thoughts. The boy didn't catch on that Don knew the whole truth of the situation, but he did realise that his problems with his half-sister were only going to develop into something worse if he didn't own up to some responsibility soon.

* * *

"…Yesmal… I think you need to see this…" Dr Aquel eagerly invited, excitedly rewinding back the footage they had recorded. From his seat beside her, Dr Yesmal swiveled his chair in closer and leaned towards the screen so he could get a clearer view of the television. It wasn't the best setup. Under contract, Andrew Walker had to allow the three scientists a place to conduct their research. So the park ranger gave them permission to utilise the camp's outdated gym, which basically consisted of a large building with one wall being dedicated to rock climbing while some basic exercise machines lined the perimeter of the room. Forbidding the public to enter, the scientists painstakingly plugged in all their electronic equipment that was on loan from the Government, before also setting up the few microscopes that they had taken with them from New York.

As soon as they had arrived back at the camp from their short turtle hunting spree, Aquel and Yesmal sprung into action. They phoned Dr Quease who was staying at some expensive hotel in town and told him to come down and study the blood sample they had obtained from Raphael. While Dr Aquel focused her attention on the video footage, Dr Yesmal decided to take care of the tracking systems and sound recording, while also helping out by studying some of the other pieces of information they had collected from their brief turtle encounter.

Dr Yesmal's mind was crammed with sadistic thoughts. He had traveled thousands of miles in order to meet that one particular turtle again, and yet now that he had accomplished that, he didn't know where to go from there. Did he just want revenge and therefore end the turtle's life? Dr Yesmal knew that if he chose to destroy the red-wearing shelled beast, then he had to be extremely careful that his involvement with its death wasn't discovered otherwise he could lose his job along with his high paying income. As he stared blankly at the television screen that Dr Aquel was observing, Dr Yesmal figured that there were other ways to make the turtle suffer, whether that involved isolating the turtle itself, or making the entire clan miserable. A cruel smile flew across his lips. He just wanted Raphael's world to fall apart, and after he saw what his work colleague was referring to on the videotape, he knew how to start his personal vengeance.

"It's definitely the purple one," Dr Yesmal confirmed, eyes seemingly glued to the screen. The turtle was only on film for two seconds at the most before Raphael turned the camera away, however it was more than plenty for the scientists. Dr Aquel rewound the footage again so she could freeze it frame by frame.

"…That's amazing…" the female scientist murmured mainly to herself in astonishment.

"Why?"

"Well… Think about it. The last time this turtle was seen was in New York. The rest of his family was in London at the time. So somehow they managed to meet up again. Don't you think that's kind of amazing?" Dr Aquel explained her line of thought.

"Or they could have found each other after the family had escaped that second time from the zoo, since they both could have been in New York," Dr Yesmal offered another theory.

"…But the purple turtle wasn't on that plane heading towards Australia, otherwise he would have been captured and placed in quarantine as well," Dr Aquel was quickly getting confused. Dr Yesmal simply shrugged.

"Oh well, they met up somehow. What's it matter now?" Yesmal muttered. "Anyway, I should phone The Pentagon about this," the male scientist stated.

"Why?" Dr Quease asked from his spot behind a microscope. The scruffy white-haired scientist had been listening in on their entire conversation, though he had been too busy studying Raphael's blood sample that he couldn't be bothered stopping to view the video footage as well.

"This is the turtle that escaped from The Pentagon. I was told to inform them if I ever found him again, just in case they still want him," Dr Yesmal explained. Although he was just completing an order, the scientist also had a sadistic desire to break the bale of turtles up.

"Is that really necessary? What exactly do they need him for? Surely the conservation of this species is more important than pointless military operations, or whatever on earth they're gonna do with a giant mutant turtle!" Dr Aquel argued, appalled at the Government's prioritising. "His genes can greatly benefit the species. The worst thing we can do is separate him and cause undue distress on the rest of the family!" she continued to debate. Once again Dr Yesmal indifferently shrugged his shoulders.

"Orders are orders."

"…How exactly do you phone The Pentagon?" Dr Quease wondered, interrupting their conversation again.

"I've got a special number to dial," Dr Yesmal answered as he reached for his cell phone. Everyone fell silent as Yesmal pulled out a business card from his pocket before punching in the numbers.

"Hello. How may I direct your call?"

"Can I speak with Joseph Fiffer please?"

"Who's speaking?"

"Dr Darren Yesmal."

"One moment please," the female receptionist said calmly as she placed the scientist on hold. Yesmal rolled his eyes when some classical music began to play while he waited. After what seemed an eternity of Mozart, a tired and gruff masculine voice finally interrupted the tune.

"Hello? Joseph Fiffer speaking."

"Hi, it's Dr Darren Yesmal. We've met before, years ago, back when one of the turtles came under your care?" the scientist said, hoping the mathematician would remember him just so that the conversation would progress easier.

"Ah, yeah. I remember," Joseph said casually, even though he vaguely remembered the man he was speaking to. The name certainly rang a bell in his mind, most likely because the turtle's species was named after the scientist, however Joseph still had difficulty in remembering the man's appearance.

"Well I was told by the Government to phone you if we happened to encounter that particular turtle again. We've just received video footage of his presence on Kauai, Hawaii. If you like, we can capture him for you and transport him to The Pentagon," Dr Yesmal explained, attempting to sound more important and organised than he really was.

Joseph Fiffer had always predicted that one day he would receive a phone call just like this, however no matter how many times he had thought about it, he still feared what the outcome would be. It had been seventeen long years since he had seen his reptilian friend, though he could still remember every conversation they had held. Witnessing his endless devotion and love towards his family, Don's attitude made a huge impact on how Joseph viewed his own life and it finally convinced him to get out of the office and gain a social life. Thanks to Donatello for opening his eyes, the mathematician was now married with three children even though he was saddened when he realised that he still occupied the same job. Although the turtle didn't know it, Donatello had helped Joseph, and while the man had already aided the reptile in escaping, he still felt like he had to owe more. Once again it seemed that Joseph Fiffer had to manipulate the scenario into his favour.

"Dr Yesmal? Do you have a colleague that I could speak to?" the mathematician boldly asked. The scientist furrowed his eyebrows.

"Yes. Dr Quease and Dr Aquel," Yesmal answered, quite confused by the direction the conversation was going.

"Can I speak with Dr Aquel please?" Joseph asked, though it was more of a command. He had heard of Dr Cornelius Quease before, considering the eccentric man was renown for his astounding knowledge in a various range of scientific studies, while also being notorious for being kicked out of most academies for being too rowdy and obnoxious. Dr Aquel seemed to be the safer choice, especially if he wanted his plan to work. Joseph Fiffer had encountered people like Dr Yesmal before; men who would grovel and hog all the credit of their team's work, thinking about their career more than the actual assignment. It forced Joseph to curiously ponder whether Yesmal's colleagues respected all the decisions he made.

"Um… sure," Dr Yesmal's voice fluctuated in uncertainty as he handed the phone over to his female co-worker, still rather baffled by the request.

"Hello?" Dr Aquel said, almost as confused as Dr Yesmal.

"Hi. My name's Jospeh Fiffer. Before I make a decision about whether or not he needs to be captured, I have a few questions about the purple turtle that I would like to ask you," the mathematician started.

"Um, yeah. Sure. Go ahead," Dr Aquel said, still rather taken aback that the man had requested to speak to her. By this time Dr Yesmal had resorted to glaring at the female scientist, quite peeved about the situation. Dr Aquel looked away from his annoyed gaze, just knowing that he was listening very intently to everything she said.

"If you captured the purple turtle, will that have negative effects on the rest of his family?" Joseph calmly asked.

"Yes," Dr Aquel seized the opportunity to voice her own opinion even though she couldn't go into great detail considering the close proximity her coworker was situated in.

"Will the purple turtle's unique abilities be compromised if he was removed from his habitat?"

"Most likely. Yes," Aquel confirmed, once again giving a simple answer so that Dr Yesmal couldn't detect that she was jeopardising his goals.

"Alright. Thank you. That's all I need to know. Tell Dr Yesmal that we do not need the turtle to be captured. Technology has come a long way over the past couple of years, so we don't really have a need for him. He'll be better off with the rest of his species," Joseph Fiffer announced. Most of what the mathematician has said was true, however even though Donatello wasn't needed for code cracking, the Government did have a natural curiosity in the knowledge and wisdom he contained. But Dr Aquel had provided Joseph with a few valid reasons for why Donatello shouldn't be isolated from the rest of his clan, so in the end Don benefited while Jospeh himself wouldn't be criticised by the decision he had made. Joseph couldn't help but smile to himself, just knowing that if he had continued on talking with Dr Yesmal, the outcome would have no doubt been completely different. "It's been nice talking to you. Thank you for your time. Goodbye."

"Goodbye," Dr Aquel ended the overseas phone call. Dr Yesmal's eyes went wide, feeling rather insecure that he wasn't the one to finish the conversation. "We don't have to capture him. They're not really interested in him anymore," Dr Aquel reported the outcome to her two colleagues. Dr Yesmal frowned, realising that he would have to come up with another way or reason to capture the turtles. "Guess we've got some more studying to do," Dr Aquel said with a smug smile on her face, simply loving how everything seemed to go in her favour.

* * *

"I just don't get it, Donny! Why would they do that?" Leonardo asked once Raph and Don had told the clan the full story about the bothersome collar.

"I don't really know. Though I have seen those things being used in documentaries before and also for scientific research…" Don trailed off.

"I know that! But why didn't the scientists just capture Raph? Why the sudden change in tactics?" Leo reworded his question, slightly frustrated and scared that he could no longer predict his enemy. Venus and the four children looked towards Donatello for answers while Mike kept his mouth shut for the time being.

"…Maybe they were just using him as bait? Maybe they do want to catch us, but they'd rather do it all in one go when they find out where our lair is?" Donatello suggested, assuming the worst as usual. "We should move while we still have the chance," the purple wearing turtle resurrected the old debate.

"Oh no, not this again!" Mike muttered under his breath, yet his comment was still loud enough for Don to hear.

"I'm serious about this! I was definitely caught on tape! The United States military are probably on their way right now!" Don argued, though he was panicking more than fighting for what he believed in. There was a brief silence before Venus finally turned to her husband.

"It's not fair to place Don's life in danger like this, even though we'd all have to move in order to accommodate his needs," Venus said gently to Leonardo. Don nodded his head in agreement before smiling slightly, just knowing that his leader tended to be rather biased when it came to listening to Venus' opinions considering the relationship that they shared.

"…You're right. We're just gonna have to find a new home," Leo admitted with a sigh.

"No we can't," Michelangelo finally spoke up. Everyone in the clan gave him a surprised look, rather shocked by how defiantly he was disregarding Leo's decision.

"What do you mean?" Don squawked.

"I mean that if we leave this National Park… then the scientists will have a reason to capture us… or even have permission to kill on sight," Mike disclosed his inside information. Although what he had heard was greatly beneficial to his family, he still was rather reluctant to admit the whole truth of the matter, as he knew that too many questions would arise concerning his whereabouts.

"…How do you know this?" Leo suspiciously raised an eye-ridge. Looking his brother over, Leo noticed that Mike timidly held one hand behind his back. Being overly inquisitive, Leo speedily reached around Mike's shell and yanked out the object he was hiding in his shocked three-fingered grip. It was a bag of chicken flavoured potato chips. Leo immediately growled in response.

"Dammit Mike!" Leonardo cursed, angrily scrunching the bag up in his hands. "You seriously have a problem, you know that? You're addicted to this crap!" the turtle threw the packet of junk food to the ground before kicking it viciously out of his sight.

"It's not what you think!" Mike protested.

"What am I supposed to think, Mike? All I know is that you're willing to risk all of our lives just for some potato crisps!" Although the two turtles had endured the same type of argument before, Mike truly believed that Leo was getting angrier every time.

"Okay! I admit it! I have a problem, okay! But when I was snooping around that camp site, I overheard Dr Yesmal, Aquel and Quease talk about us!" Michelangelo explained, hoping to focus the conversation back onto the more serious issue. Once again the clan fell silent.

"What did they say?" Raphael quietly inquired, hoping that his uncle might be able to solve the burning question as to why a radio collar had been placed around his neck earlier that day.

"Basically the scientists don't have the right to capture us because we're currently protected by National Park laws. If we are considered a threat to humans, that is, if we're found around more populated areas, then they'd have no choice but to shoot or tranquil us. So currently their trying alternate methods of studying us," Mike said.

"You overheard all this?" Leo wondered, quite impressed by his wealth of knowledge.

"Yes," Mike partially lied, not declaring his true source of information.

"…Then I guess we have no choice but to stay…" Leo murmured, realising that the consequences of their actions would be far worse if they decided to flee into town in order to find a way off the island.

"But what about The Pentagon? It's not as though a little environmental law is going to stop them," Don quietly stated, not particularly wanting to accept the situation he was in.

"Well, you better pray that you never get captured," Leo grimly said.

* * *

"I hope this works this time," Dr Yesmal said, though his words came across like a complaint. Susan Aquel frowned at her colleague's constant whining. From day one, since they had arrived in Hawaii, both Yesmal and Quease had disagreed on how Aquel had wanted to conduct the non-intrusive research. In fact, the two male scientists had even placed bets on how long Raph's radio collar would last. Susan could understand why Quease wanted the turtles in captivity, mainly because he specialised in that type of close range study, however she could not think of a motive behind Yesmal's reasoning. Some days he was incredibly rapt up in the excitement of discovering their genetic secrets, while at other times he showed complete disinterest and even apathy towards the species that was named after himself. Not knowing what the man was thinking, Aquel simply labeled his changing opinions about the turtles as a phase he was going through, yet she hoped that his arrogant attitude would disappear soon.

Since Donatello and an unknown prepubescent turtle had been filmed previously, Aquel was curious on how large the population size was. She wanted to know if anymore offspring had been born or if the turtles hadn't conceived any young since they had last seen them nine years ago, which meant that there was a possibility that they might have to intervene in order to keep the species going. Eventually she aimed to collect blood samples from all of the turtles just for database reasons, though she knew that that wasn't some goal that could be achieved within a week. It would take time and patience – two factors that Dr Yesmal hated.

"Almost done," Dr Aquel assured Yesmal as she turned on the last hidden night vision video camera. Instead of dangerously trudging around a forest and individually hunting down each mutant reptile, they decided to once again change their scientific approach and simply rely on pure happenstance. Setting up tiny sensors along what they predicted was a common track that the turtle's used, the scientists hoped that they would be able to both film and photograph the entire population of the endangered species. A photograph would be taken if anything passed in front of it, while the cameras would start filming if one of the sensors detected any movement. In the end it was a very tedious task in setting everything up, especially when all the technology had to be heavily camouflaged.

"All I can say is that this better be worth the effort," Dr Yesmal grumbled for the umpteenth time, causing Dr Aquel to cringe and grind her teeth from his repetitiveness.

"You'll see," Dr Aquel said, hoping to prove her greatest critique wrong.

To be continued…


	11. My Job, My Life

Calypphire - Glad you're enjoying the trilogy so far. I still have another flashback sequence to go, so you will find out how the subplot with Sarah, Don and Morpheus ends later on in the story (probably within the next five chapters or so).

Rene - They would have heard Raph and Don speak, though as a short answer - they didn't really care that much. At the moment they are more curious as to what turtles are still alive, if there are any more offspring etc. Your question made me realise something in the plot I may have missed or not conveyed across very well, so in this chapter I've extended a scene that will hopefully answer your question properly as to why the scientists aren't that surprised that they can communicate with each other. You'll most likely have more questions after this chapter, but we'll see how we go and I might have to tweak a few things in future updates.

Chapter Eleven: My Job, My Life.

Once again the entire clan became withdrawn, only daring to venture out for crucial necessities such as food and water. With everyone staying in such a close proximity to the lair, relationships were easily strained. Nervousness had gripped their hearts while fear plagued their brain, and while every member of the clan knew that it was important to keep a low profile, the tension between them still mounted, just begging to be released in a tremendous argument.

Yet surprisingly not all of the clan's tension resided between Donatello and Michelangelo. This time it seemed that Leonardo and Venus were having their own set of problems. Neither of them had resorted to yelling at each other; in fact the couple had made it one of their relationship rules that they would try their best not to argue in front of the children. However the older turtles in the clan could still sense some unease between them. In a way, they might as well have been trapped at the zoo, as just like being confined in a glass cell, none of the turtles had the freedom to leave each other's presence, forcing everyone to deal with their issues either in front of each other or by themselves.

Diana was a mess. She wanted to find the answers to her problems and thoughts, however she didn't know what questions to ask. Although it was obvious in her mind that she needed to discuss her feelings with Raphael, she just felt so awkward and nervous around her older brother that she ended up procrastinating for most of the day. Also, there was an underlying fear that someone would overhear their conversation, namely her parents, while at the same time she couldn't bear the horrible yet unlikely thought and possibility that Raphael might have changed his mind and therefore reject her.

Whenever he wasn't harvesting crops, Donatello often watched his niece from afar. Just from looking at her expression he could tell the girl was depressed and confused. He hated seeing her that way and it bothered him that Diana had wished for him not to do anything about it. Yet when he occasionally checked up on Raphael, he was also in the same mood, causing Donatello to seriously wonder if anything was ever going to be resolved between the two. That was the main reason why Don decided to finally step in even though he was disobeying Diana's wishes for him not to become involved in their affairs. Don knew that his actions might have a negative effect, especially where trust was concerned, however Diana was lucky that she had someone to confide in, and from judging Raph's behaviour, he also needed a quiet, understanding listener as well.

Donatello casually approached his nephew, watching patiently as the red-wearing turtle carefully piled the horde of coconuts he had gathered in order to keep their supply stocked up. "Can I speak with you for a minute?" Donatello invited. Raphael nodded absentmindedly while he placed his last coconut at the very tip of his pyramidal structure that he had constructed. "Let's just have a short walk, shall we? Just to check up on my crop plantations and back," Don offered, gesturing with his hand the direction that he wanted to travel. Don could almost visibly see the nerves gathering in Raphael's body. The teenager had definitely picked up on his serious vibes and was obviously fearing the worst.

Not wanting to decline, Raph reluctantly followed his uncle further into the forest. Walking beside him, Raph didn't say a word, just hoping that Don would initiate the conversation and that the topic wasn't about his relationship with his half-sister.

Noticing that Raphael was remaining silent, Don exhaled a sigh and spoke what was on his mind. There was no turning back now. He was going to place his trust with Diana in jeopardy. "Diana told me what happened," Don stated, remaining ambiguous just to see what the teenager's reaction would be. Raph had halted in his footsteps.

"…What did she say?" Raph nervously asked. There was fear in his eyes.

"She told me everything," Don said, knowing that if he elaborated he would only make the turtle more worried and withdrawn.

Raphael bit his bottom lip and paced a step or two as though he didn't know whether he should stay and hear more, or simply run away from his problems. "So are you gonna lecture me or something?" It seemed Raph had decided to debate, quickly turning his anxious emotions into anger.

"No. Not at all. I just wanted to talk to you. Man to man, you know? Just in case you wanted to confide in someone, that's all," Donatello explained his actions calmly. Raphael relaxed his tense muscles and lowered his gaze to the ground; completely stopping his useless pacing and allowing his arms to limply hang defeated by his sides.

"Does anyone else know?" Raphael quietly asked, too ashamed to look his uncle in the eyes.

"No. Only me."

"Are you angry with me?"

"Not really," Donatello answered honestly. Don sighed. "But I'll get more and more annoyed if you continue to ignore Diana like this."

Raphael paused for long time, just allowing Don's words to sink in. The older turtle also waited for a response, knowing that if he added any more of his own thoughts then it would indeed turn into the lecture Raph originally feared. "…I just feel so awkward about it. I never intended to hurt her… and now I just feel awful," Raphael admittedly whispered.

"Thing is, if you don't sort yourselves out, then you will unintentionally hurt her anyway," Donatello analysed.

"I know, I know," the teenager whispered, almost cursing himself about his lack of action. "But what exactly do I say?"

"The truth. If you feel awkward about it, then tell her that. If you're sorry, then say that as well. But if you don't say anything at all, then nothing will be resolved and then you will both have this big problem floating around in your heads all the time," Don said. Once again Raphael remained quiet. "I don't want to lecture you, Raph. I also don't want to treat you like a kid who can't solve his own problems. I'm just telling you this because I know how it feels. I've been there," Donatello continued.

"Is this what it was like when you were dating Sarah?" Raph wondered. This time it was Don's turn to stay silent for a few moments.

"I just wish she said something. Even if all she had were swear words, although it would have been hard to hear and cope at first, in the end I still would have liked to have been able to move on faster, instead of just hoping and waiting for months on end," Don admitted. "It really killed me not to know how Sarah felt about me… But I can tell you now that you don't have exactly the same problem. I know for a fact that Diana feels exactly the same way as you do."

"Really?"

"Really. You just need to keep communicating with each other," Don softly advised.

"…But, like, she's my sister. Is that still okay?" Raphael uncomfortably asked, wanting his uncle's opinion or approval. All he wanted was a black and white answer, but he knew that one didn't exist. Once again Donatello sighed.

"Raph… That's why you need to talk to Diana, so you can know what you're both comfortable with," Don avoided the question entirely. Raphael was quick to notice his retreat from the topic.

"But is it okay?" Raph pressed onwards. Donatello fell silent for an entire minute afterwards, just plodding mindlessly towards the crops he had planted.

"I'm honestly not sure…"

* * *

Iris let out a loud, long yawn while she lazily stared at the canopy above. Bored, she aimlessly watched as the rest of her family scuttled about the lair, preparing various things such as dinner, food supplies and water. Yet although the work never stopped while living in the forest, the noise certainly did. Not a word was spoken. Not a peep was heard. Iris hated that stillness in the air. It was so stale that she felt that the oxygen was choking the life and spirit out of her little lungs. She wanted nothing more than to holler in frustration, glee or for attention, though she had been strictly told by Leonardo not to make any unnecessary noise. Venus had also reinforced this message… so had Donatello, Raphael… and even Gabriel. She couldn't help it; she just loved the sound of her own voice accompanying the melodic birdcalls that randomly sounded through the trees.

The girl sighed before trying to entertain herself by making an angel shape in the dirt by swishing her limbs around. Bored, Iris eventually stood back up and tried her best to brush the soil off her carapace. The yellow bandanna-wearing turtle was just itching to do something. Anything. For a few seconds she even considered requesting a ninjitsu lesson, though Leo had abandoned his teachings because of more important issues or because he thought that it would make too much noise. There weren't going to be anymore ninja-orientated family games either, especially when Raph and Diana became lost in the forest and worried the entire clan the last time they played.

Not really knowing how to entertain herself, Iris went in search of someone to initiate a conversation with. Her father, Venus and Leo were occupied fetching or preparing the food, Diana looked like she didn't want to be disturbed, while Don and Raphael were nowhere to be seen. Having no other options, Iris sought out her other half-brother and found the black bandanna-wearing turtle sitting in his cave, obviously trying to meditate.

Being the same age as the boy, Iris usually played with Gabriel, though she found that he always wanted to end the game too early. The boy did like to tumble around, shadow spar and generally have fun, though he was the type of fellow who always liked to keep himself occupied and busy, as if he had some kind of secret unchangeable schedule tattooed under his eyelids. Although Gabriel lightened up every now and then, for the most part he was rather serious. It was this dull attitude which caused him to frequently be playfully teased by his older half-brother, Raphael, while at times Iris made jokes at his expense as well. Diana usually defended the boy and his personality mainly because she was related to him by blood, while the adults in the clan viewed the boy as a dream child who was never a problem and easy to handle… unlike Iris.

Not shifting his meditative position, Gabriel opened one eye and watched as Iris advanced towards him. "Wanna play a game or something?" Iris asked.

"Or something?" Gabriel repeated the girl's choice of words with an amused raised eye-ridge; rarely saying anything longer than two sentences.

"Well, do you wanna?" Iris asked again.

"What game?" the boy inquired.

"I dunno. Tag or something."

"Or something?" Once again Gabriel nit-picked Iris' words. The girl frowned.

"Please, Gabe! I'm really bored," Iris started to whine.

"But I'm in the middle of meditating," Gabriel returned the whine.

"Please!"

"Not right now."

"Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"No."

"Pretty please with a cherry on top and extra super-duper sprinkles?" Iris wouldn't give up. She was just brimming with energy; just itching to release it. It was soon clear to the boy that his half-sister required a longer, more satisfying answer.

"Mum and Dad wouldn't want us running around. They've got bigger things to worry about than supervising us," Gabriel analysed. Iris grumped in response.

"Fine," Iris sighed in defeat. She slowly walked away, kicking the dirt out of boredom as she stepped forward. Once again she looked around the lair only to find that everyone else was either too busy or unapproachable. Iris longed to explore. She had been yearning to run rampant and free through the forest for the past couple of hours, as though the feeling was some sort of addiction that needed to be fulfilled. Staring at the other family members, Iris figured that her wish might come true. After all, because the clan was so preoccupied with other things, would any of them notice if she just took a quick stroll or gallop through the woods?

Feeling cocky and bold, Iris disobeyed the elders of the clan and sprinted up one of the pathways. Most people would be frightened to walk alone through a forest, though Iris simply adored the solitude and surge of adrenaline-induced independence. It was incredibly risky, but Iris felt that it was the only way she could feel free from the strict rules and confines of her home life. She had only wanted to dart off for about five minutes, but like always she traveled further than she had originally intended. Eventually she stopped walking up the track her parents had taught her about as she felt that she was in danger of her absence being discovered. Most of the time when she ran off without permission, Leo gave her a lecture while Mike owned up to the responsibility to take decisive action. However on this particular day, Iris knew that she'd be in a lot more trouble than that if her little escapade around the forest was detected. After only spending a total of ten minutes away from the lair, Iris reluctantly decided to turn back and head for home.

Yet the damage had already been done. The camera's sensors had been triggered twice - once on Iris' outgoing trip and once when she was heading back towards the lair. The girl had been too carefree to even notice the mechanical little developing whine of the electronic equipment. Iris had been successfully photographed and filmed, sentencing the female turtle with a more serious consequence for her bold actions than just a simple lecture from her teacher.

* * *

Both Dr Quease and Dr Aquel looked up from their work when Dr Yesmal entered their makeshift laboratory. "I collected the memory stick and video tape," the man announced as he made his way over to a small television that was positioned rather precariously on his overcrowded desk. Dr Aquel quickly made her way over towards him while Quease didn't even budge or bat an eyelid at the news.

The female scientist eagerly looked on as Yesmal delicately poked the tape into a VCR. They had set the video camera so that it would commence recording only when something triggered off the sensors. Watching the footage, the first few minutes were filled with empty, short shots that were obviously filmed because of a falling leaf or because a strong gust of wind shifted a fern or picked up larger particles of dirt. Just when they thought they had nothing, an unfamiliar turtle starred on screen. It was a young turtle with darker coloured skin, a yellow bandanna and a few spots on her face. A few seconds later, the same turtle was filmed again. Both scientists were intrigued with this discovery, though they were interested because of very different reasons.

"Haven't seen that one before," Dr Aquel stated the obvious, already winding back the footage.

"My guess is that it's female. She looks like she's the same age as that black-wearing turtle we saw, meaning that she might be the one we artificially inseminated," Dr Yesmal summarised.

"Probably," Aquel simply agreed. "Well, it looks like our setup worked. No doubt we managed to get a few photos of her as well," she added before sighing. "The question is, what do we do from here?"

"Isn't it obvious? We've got to catch them," Dr Yesmal said, though he had a certain harshness to his tone.

"What?" Dr Aquel was baffled with his extreme and illogical reasoning.

"The fact is that these turtles haven't had any more offspring since the last time we've tampered with them," Dr Yesmal stated, causing his female associate to cringe at his choice of words. 'Tampered' just made Aquel feel as though the male scientist only viewed them as complex little play toys that could be manipulated into his liking. Dr Yesmal had only just started his explanation and already his coworker was snarling. "So we should capture them, check to see if any are pregnant, then collect all of our data in one go instead of stupidly romping around the forest all the time," Yesmal finished, grinning rather smugly.

"What is wrong with you? Don't you realise that you're putting an entire species – the one you named after yourself – in danger of extinction? We've captured them before and it hasn't shown many benefits at all and basically that course of action only succeeds in stressing them all out! We've lost one of them in captivity, and I personally don't want to be responsible in the death of another!" Dr Aquel ranted, getting quite heated up about the topic. Dr Yesmal only gave her an amused smirk in return.

"But this is all taking too long! For the sake of stressing them out a little bit, we could save ourselves months of unnecessary and unproductive research," Dr Yesmal reasoned.

"I never said that we'd be finished studying them by the end of the week. You've got to understand that these things take time. You just need to develop some form of patience! It's not as though we have a specific time limit on this!" Dr Aquel argued straight back. Dr Quease stopped working and lifted his head to stare at the two scientists, though he was smart enough to not get involved.

"Well I for one don't want to be stuck studying photographs in some old decrepit gym for the next couple of years!"

"But you heard what Andrew Walker said. You have no legitimate reason to capture the turtles! There are still our other ways to carry out our research."

"But what about the breeding program?"

"We haven't collected enough data yet, so capturing them for artificial insemination purposes could end up being useless!"

"What about this? The blue male turtle's bloodline needs to be treated on a constant and supervised basis otherwise a bee sting could prove fatal. So medically there's a reason to capture the blue, black and white turtles," Dr Yesmal analysed. Dr Aquel was speechless for a few seconds, disbelieving his persistence.

"Yesmal… Why are you doing this? To me it sounds like you're using any old excuse as a reason to catch the turtles. Why are you so obsessed with capturing them? You're putting our jobs and the entire scientific study in jeopardy by suggesting this…" Dr Aquel finally calmed down and tried to reason with the stubborn man. Dr Yesmal only grumped in response.

"Well your opinion doesn't matter anyway. I'm the more qualified and senior scientist, so therefore I can overrule your decision," Yesmal stated bluntly, becoming unkind and sounding rather immature.

"Fine! Do what you want! But let it be known that this wasn't my idea at all!" Dr Aquel yelled her answer.

"Good," Yesmal stated smugly. "I know of a few horsemen who are experts at tracking animals and humans through the environment. If I call now, I can arrange for them to arrive here within a few hours," he explained. His comment startled his female colleague as she started to realise that Dr Yesmal's decision to capture the turtles wasn't just some last minute whim, but rather he had premeditated and planned that course of action even before he saw the morning's video tape.

"But…" Once again Aquel was rather speechless. "Horses?" she managed to utter. "But horses will destroy some of the native plant life with their hooves. There's no way that Walker will allow this to happen!"

"He can't stop me if he doesn't know about it. After we catch them, we'll just tell him that we need the turtles because of medical and breeding reasons. He doesn't have to know all the details. After all, he's only a crappy park warden," Dr Yesmal arrogantly answered back. Dr Aquel frowned, loathing his attitude.

"You can be such an asshole sometimes," she muttered under her breath as she stormed out of the makeshift laboratory. Dr Yesmal wasn't phased at all by his coworker's reaction. He promptly picked up a phone in order to call the men that would eventually do all the dirty work for him in capturing the troublesome turtles.

* * *

Just as Dr Yesmal had said, within hours the animal trackers had been informed and properly hired, while Dr Quease worked overtime in order to bring into the laboratory some portable, large metal cages that would hopefully contain the turtles. Dr Aquel didn't want to take part in any of the activities. Instead of waiting a little way in the forest with Dr Yesmal while the men and their horses performed their job, the female scientist ended up just furiously pacing around the campsite. She was fed up with him! What was worse was that she wasn't even able to retreat back to her cabin at the end of a day, because of the fact that she shared her room with the arrogant man. Earlier that day, Dr Yesmal had shown a complete lack of respect towards her; ignoring all of her experience and advice in the situation. What irritated her even more was that Dr Yesmal wasn't just disobeying her own wishes, but also the National Park rules. In the end, Aquel simply felt inferior, as though she had lost control of the situation, however it was that sudden change in status which eventually urged her to come forward and complain to Andrew Walker about the violations that her coworker had committed.

Determined, Susan Aquel barged up to the main building that housed both reception and the park warden's office. She didn't even bother to speak to the secretary. Instead, she just walked straight past, and, without knocking, hurriedly stormed into Andrew's cramped and rather messy office. She expected to find the bearded man sitting at his desk as usual… but instead she came face to face with someone else…

Aquel's mouth gaped as she gawked bewilderedly at the giant, mutant turtle. From behind his orange mask, the reptile stared back, returning the same fearful expression. Over a million thoughts crossed the scientist's mind. First of all, why was one of the turtles in Andrew Walker's office? Did Andrew even know about this? Did the turtle know that his family was currently being hunted down by men on horses? And why oh why did the turtle literally have his hand caught in the cookie jar?

Michelangelo's entire world just seemed to stop for a few moments. Like always, he had crept into the office to steal whatever food the warden had foolishly left unguarded. When he saw what was for offer, he just couldn't resist plunking his hand into the delicious glass bowl filled to the brim with home made cookies… and that was when the fun ended. As soon as he snapped out of his surprised state, Michelangelo leapt for the open window… and became stuck.

Dr Aquel was still shocked. She stared, mouth still gaping at the bipedal turtle that was half hanging out the window. Regaining her thought processes, she figured that the turtle normally could easily slip through a window that size, though because Mike had been in such a rush, he had leapt at a bad angle, wrongly twisted his body and therefore became stuck at the widest part of his shell. The female furrowed her eyebrows at the reptile as he struggled, pulled, wiggled and bobbed up and down in a fruitless attempt to get free. "What are you doing?" Aquel uttered, though she had said the words to herself, still trying to comprehend why the turtle was in the office in the first place.

"I'm trying to escape… duh!" Michelangelo replied even though he knew her question was only meant to be stated as an exclamation.

A second passed, then two. Finally a quiver of a smile was hinted on Aquel's lips. The turtle definitely was in a humorous predicament. What amused her even more was the fact that her coworker was traversing through the forest, hiring experts, buying containment facilities, when all they had to do was wait for the turtles to trap themselves.

"Um… I could use a little help here!" Mike finally gave up trying to free himself, realising that it was rather pointless from his position. Aquel smirked a tiny bit at his comment before cautiously stepping forward to timidly grab onto both of his ankles.

Grunting, the female scientist started to yank on his legs in an attempt to pull him back into the office. "Ugh! …It's no wonder your species is endangered…" Aquel muttered, rolling her eyes, simply in a state of denial in what she was actually doing. Mike was about to debate her comment when suddenly his shell gave way, forcing him to fall backwards, almost flattening Dr Aquel in the process. After a few moments of startled dizziness, the two quickly separated from each other and stared from either side of the room. They were back where they had started.

"Soooo…" Mike said, drawing out his words. "Are you going to continue to gawk at me, or are you going to run away and come back with your little tranquilizer?" the male turtle teased.

Dr Aquel eyed him suspiciously, finally taking note of her own role in the scenario. She knew that the turtle could easily kill her. She was in a very dangerous position. Yet Aquel wondered why the creature hadn't attacked her… though she suspected the mutant wanted something else far more important.

"What are you doing here?" Susan abruptly asked.

"Stealing cookies from the cookie jar. You?" the scientist received another smart aleck reply. Aquel couldn't help but smirk at his quick wit. Not only was his humour rather fascinating, but also his accent. Every time she seemed to meet the turtles, they always sounded a little bit different from her previous encounters with them. First they sounded American – New York accent to be exact. Then they developed a more polished British voice. When all of the turtles had first moved to Hawaii, Donatello was the odd one out as far as accents went. Although Don sometimes influenced them to say a word a certain way, in the end, combined with the isolation factor, the turtles would have retained the pronunciation they had adopted from Britain. Yet one could always trust the grand old invention of the television to open up a whole new world, once again fulfilling the lives of the ninja turtles with American shows and movies. Soon the media slowly influenced the family, though because they didn't observe the 'idiot box' every moment of the day and still tried to remain a close knit family group, in the end they didn't sound either British or American, but rather their sentences were riddled with the twangs and gurgles of each. Ironically, their accent would be more closely related to that of an Australian, therefore sounding more like Donatello, as that particular accent was simply the mixing of the British and American anyway.

"You shouldn't be here," Dr Aquel warned the turtle.

"I know," Mike said simply.

"Your family is in danger," Aquel informed him. She watched the turtle's eye-ridges furrow.

"What? What's happening?"

"Dr Yesmal has ordered some men on horseback to capture you and the others."

"…What do you want with us?" Mike hissed. "Why can't you people ever leave us alone?" His tone was low and threatening, causing Aquel to seriously consider grabbing a tranquilizer just like the turtle had jokingly suggested.

"This isn't my decision! It's Dr Yesmal's! If it was up to me, I wouldn't capture you at all!" Aquel announced her views quickly, fearing the turtle might not be patient enough to hear her answer.

"But what's the deal with hunting us down all the time? We're intelligent animals! We don't deserve to be treated like this!" Mike argued, getting more and more worried about his family. It was just as Dr Aquel had thought… The reason why he hadn't simply attacked was because he sought information.

"I know you are," Dr Aquel admitted quietly. Mike almost didn't hear her.

"Know what?" he wanted clarification on what she was referring to.

"That you're intelligent."

There wasn't an immediate reply. The turtles had always suspected that something suspicious was going on; that the scientists knew the entire truth to their being. Naturally the idea was simply just all speculation within the clan as it raised many ethical issues on the scientists' part. Although the news wasn't as shocking as what it could have been, hearing Aquel actually admit those words was both a verbal slap in the face, while also delivering that glimmer of hope that they would one day be treated as equals.

"…How… When exactly did you know?" Michelangelo was a little bit speechless, not really knowing what question to ask. Dr Aquel sighed.

"Back when you were given that permanent marker for behavioural enrichment purposes," Dr Aquel answered honestly, still rather timid, but becoming more relaxed since the turtle had lowered his tone of voice a bit.

"But, but I read that you said that Donatello was the only intelligent one – the rest of us were just animals…" Mike recalled, a little bit confused. Dr Aquel frowned slightly at his observation, as it took her a few moments to understand whom 'Donatello' was.

"We knew that you were all capable of writing, or at least understanding and comprehending human language. We just had to pin all the blame on 'Donatello' otherwise the media would have scrutinised the zoo. …It was all about the money back then…" Dr Aquel sighed.

"So if you knew that back then… why did you bother capturing us again?"

"'Donatello' possessed a scary amount of knowledge, and so it was our duty to observe and study the rest of you just in case you proved yourselves to be quite dangerous… Though the main reason for placing you in captivity the second time was because you were quite a nuisance running around the sewers of London," Aquel answered.

"…So the Government wanted to keep an eye on us?" Mike suspiciously asked.

"Yes… During the second time you were caught at the zoo, we discovered that not only could you reason like a human, but you experienced complex emotions as well."

"So why did you continue to treat us like animals?" Mike suddenly became annoyed.

"Because I didn't want to lose my job!" Aquel retorted, raising her voice. "I, I had to… It has taken me so long to come so far in my career… But then I started to become attached to the younger turtles while Yesmal only became more obsessive…" she started to trail off. The female scientist remembered when she first started to develop a change of heart when it came to the turtles. It was when Dr Yesmal studied what was later dubbed the 'mating' tape between Leo and Venus. She remembered how obsessed her coworker was over it, as though he had some weird pleasure in observing it over and over again, not even bothering to return home for the night. Thinking about it made Aquel sick to her stomach. She could understand why certain things had to be done, especially in the name of science, however she still wanted to respect the turtles, though she soon found out that her job and feelings towards animals in general quickly became contradictory. She had the same conflicted feelings when she tried to train Diana to perform actions on cue – on the one hand the female scientist knew the little girl was a sweet and delightful child, and yet for job safety reasons she still needed to carry on her work even though it may have seemed degrading to her subjects. "Then there was that whole Dr Welner court case incident…" Aquel mumbled, adding it to the end.

The murder of Simon Bonesteel was one of those odd little mysteries that everyone in America loved to debate about. Dr Welner's defense that a yeti and a family of six mutant turtles crashed into his room and killed the hunter was so outrageous that the public became incredibly intrigued and opinionated about the case. Being one of those stories that stormed the world, television cameras were even allowed inside the courtroom when the verdict was announced. In order to back up Dr Welner's story, Dr Yesmal (now with an injured hand) and Dr Aquel had to testify and try to provide evidence that the turtles and Silver were intelligent enough to commit the crime. Yet by doing so, the three scientists were at risk of being convicted of other offenses, as by telling the public how adept the mutants were, then they would have inadvertently opened doorways to animals rights, humane treatment and ethical debates. So the defense team provided a series of contradictory half-truths, distorted evidence, and frequently upgraded or tweaked the story, much to the jury's confusion, so that Dr Welner would be proven innocent, and yet the entire tale of the yeti and turtles remained mostly unknown. In the end the jury disregarded most of the evolving story about how the murder was caused by Silver. However, Dr Welner was still proclaimed innocent only because there was too much reasonable doubt and the fact that no one could explain how he could have physically snapped Bonetseel's neck. Though despite the verdict, many people in America still thought he was guilty, and with a ruined reputation, Dr Welner felt obliged to leave the country and move the rest of his family to live in Canada.

"…I see… You valued your job more than the lives of my entire family," Mike hissed once again.

"It's not like that anymore… Well at least it's not supposed to be like that. We're only allowed to be using non-intrusive means-"

"-Somehow shoving a collar around my nephew's neck doesn't sound very 'non-intrusive' to me!" Mike interrupted.

"Please just hear me out!" Dr Aquel started to panic, extremely worried that the turtle might seize the opportunity to try and kill her. She watched cautiously as Mike simply sighed and crossed his arms. "…We only want to learn more about you… but Dr Yesmal… Yesmal…" she trailed off.

"…Is only thinking about his career? The glory? The money?" Michelangelo finished off the female scientist's sentence. The woman nodded.

"…You should really get out of here… If Yesmal finds you this close to the camp, then that'll give him a valid reason to try and capture you…"

"I know," Mike muttered softly, eyes downcast as though he was suddenly ashamed of his actions. In his head he could already hear Leo's inevitable oncoming lecture abut giving into the temptations of junk food.

"Your family is in danger-"

"-I should warn them," Mike interrupted again. He took a few steps towards the window, obviously taking his time to slip through the opening so he wouldn't become stuck again.

"Hurry! The hunters are already scouting the woods…" Dr Aquel urged him onwards. Michelangelo stealthily slipped through the open window, but before he disappeared, he poked his head back into the office once again.

"Just one more question… Why exactly are you helping me?" Mike asked out of curiosity.

"…Because that's my job."

To be continued…


	12. Separated

Chapter Twelve: Separated.

Venus calmly washed her hands in a bowl of water, relieved that her chores had finally been completed for the day. She stared at all the vegetables she had chopped up and prepared, allowing them to sit in a pot so that Michelangelo could start cooking as soon as he came back from wherever he had ran off to. Although Mike had been out for a few hours, she wasn't too concerned about his disappearance as she knew the orange-wearing turtle liked to take a break from the clan's affairs every once in a while. She did however hope that he would arrive back home soon, as the sun was starting to set and traditionally dinner was served in the turtle household at around nightfall.

Looking around the lair, she noticed that Donatello was no longer occupied with Raphael. She realised that the pair had spent a good hour or so talking to each other, both visiting the crop plantations and returning with a few more vegetables for her to prepare for their dinner later on that night. Venus didn't even wonder what the two males had spoke about – all she was worried about was whether she should tell Donatello what had been plaguing her mind for the past few weeks. With her chores completed and with Leonardo entertaining Gabriel and Iris, Venus thought it was the opportune moment to break away from the lair.

"Donatello… Do you have a minute?" Venus asked the purple-wearing turtle when he didn't seem to be very busy.

"I certainly do," Don admitted rather lightheartedly. The male turtle observed Venus' serious expression, allowing a lengthy pause to develop between them. "You okay?" Don asked, slightly concerned.

"I need to speak to you about something… It's rather important," Venus timidly said, keeping a wary eye on the whereabouts of her husband. "Maybe we should have a short walk?" Venus invited.

Donatello nodded before raising an eye-ridge, feeling curious while also finding it ironic that only a few hours ago he had basically said the same thing to his nephew. Don sighed wearily as he followed the female turtle into the forest. He knew the conversation was going to be about something secretive and serious, and while he enjoyed helping family members out with their problems, he couldn't help but feel tired when everyone always seemed to approach him_. 'Do I have the word "counselor" tattooed on my forehead?'_ Don thought to himself, almost involuntarily rolling his eyes while he humorously poked fun at his own predicaments.

"So what's this about?" Donatello inquired, wanting to get to bottom of the issue rather quickly instead of tiptoeing around the topic in question.

Venus sighed, paused a moment to rethink her actions, before finally opening her mouth to speak. "For a while now Leonardo and I have been trying for another baby," Venus summarised. Donatello jerked his head a little bit after hearing the news, not because it was terribly shocking unlike the other complicated conversations he had held previously with Diana and Raphael, but rather he was taken aback because the news was unexpected.

"…I had no idea that you were planning to have another child…" Donatello uttered. "I thought that this would be the last thing Leo wanted, now that humans are interested in us again," Don added once he had thought about the issue a little bit longer.

"We're not trying anymore. At least not now; in the future maybe… But we've been trying for a while, and I haven't fallen pregnant…." Venus murmured, confessing the marital problems she and Leo shared. "Leonardo can be so stubborn sometimes. I wanted to tell you this earlier just in case there's some test you can do to find out what's happening, but Leo didn't want to discuss it further," Venus confided.

"Is this why you two have been rather… tense lately?" Don wondered, having some difficulty in choosing his words.

"Tense?"

"I dunno. It just seemed that you and Leo weren't getting on the best."

"Is it really that obvious?" Venus asked, getting worried about what the other clan members were thinking.

"Not really. You just seemed uneasy or a little bit awkward around each other, that's all," Donatello observed.

"Well, do you have any idea why I'm having so much trouble conceiving?" Venus asked. She wasn't entirely comfortable is speaking about her flaws and marital problems, but she really valued Don's scientific insight. Venus admitted that her relationship with Leo needed extra help, and although she was partly ashamed about talking about such intimate issues, she wanted to solve and deal with the problem of infertility so badly that she was willing to embarrass herself a little so that things would hopefully improve in the long run.

"I once read somewhere that males turtles did tend to have low sperm counts… But, you and Leo haven't really had any problems before, have you?" Donatello quietly asked, knowing that he was getting into more personal details. He only wanted to help the couple, though he hoped Venus wouldn't become too offended or intimidated with how far he was prying for more information.

"With conceiving? No. I don't think so," Venus remained truthful. She knew the conversation would become slightly awkward, but Donatello always had a way of remaining rather clinical. For most part, he was viewed as the clan's doctor – a person who you could approach in confidence that he would keep things a secret, like a confidential agreement. Donatello just always managed to keep his personal feelings out of the way, remaining rather detached yet informative and helpful at the same time, which made others feel more comfortable when speaking about their physical and health related dilemmas.

"It's just a little bit odd…" Donatello muttered, saying the comment more to himself. Although he wasn't present at the time, he had surmised that Venus seemed to have no difficulty when it came to falling pregnant with any of her previous offspring. Excluding Iris' unique case, when it came to Raphael, Diana and Gabriel, Donatello couldn't remember any conversations that touched on the issue that Venus had had some trouble. It baffled him slightly as to why she was having problems now, though when he started thinking about the last pregnancy with Iris and Gabriel, Don's train of thought eventually lead him to an interesting alternative answer. "Venus… I know it's really none of my business, but… are you really keen on having another child?" Don asked carefully, not knowing what the female's response would be.

The two turtles aimlessly walked onwards. The silence continued. Although she hadn't said anything, it was obvious what Venus' answer would be. "I do want to have another child…" Venus started to explain, though Don knew there was more to it. "…I'm just worried, that's all."

"Worried about what?" Don pressed onwards.

"What if it's a boy? If I have another child… then there'll be an odd number, and then…" she trailed off. Donatello understood what she meant. From a genetic viewpoint, there was no need for Leonardo and Venus to have another child, particularly a male. Already having two children, Leo's bloodline had been somewhat exhausted, especially when compared to the fact that Donatello hadn't passed on his genes successfully to a second generation at all. Yet Leo and Venus weren't the problem, as being considered the founders of the species, they could technically have as many children as they wanted. However what would become of the third generation? It was true that Gabriel's only hope of a mate was Iris, unless Mike or Don produced another female child. Under their current circumstances, as far as the gene pool went, any more male offspring from Leonardo would prove useless. Similarly, although another daughter from Leo still provided some options as far as potential partners went, there was still the dire case of the blue-wearing turtle's genes dominating the future generations, which would quickly increase the probability and likelihood of in-breeding later on. In order to provide the best future in establishing their unique species, they needed to broaden the gene pool as wide as possible, not just simply increase the population from one partner.

"Venus… Maybe you're subconsciously storing the sperm instead…" Don hypothesised.

"What do you mean?" Venus asked, rather taken aback.

"Well…" Donatello suddenly felt awkward, especially when he was going to make Leo and Venus sound like scientific experiments. "In your subconscious, your body knows what's needed for the species. So maybe it's purposely holding off in the hopes that some… variety is offered," Donatello blushed. "I've read that turtles can store sperm for up to three years in some cases, so you might become pregnant later on anyway," he added. Venus remained silent for a few seconds. She knew that he might be correct, and she had thought of the possibility before about how she could be subconsciously holding off having more children, especially since she was so psychologically against it. Venus basically just wanted confirmation that this was the case and it wasn't some other issue involving Leo.

"I'm just so conflicted about having another child with Leo…" Venus admitted. "I can't lie to you, Don. I've personally thought that I might be subconsciously holding back," Venus softly said. "…But I have no idea what I'm going to say to Leo about this. He believes I want this child as much as he does… but that's not the case, and I can't exactly override my own natural instinct. What on earth do I tell him?" Venus started to babble, trying to solve her problems as she spoke.

"Just tell him that you don't want another child. It'll be easier now because of the scientists," Don suggested that she could blame her lack of interest on the fact that they were in danger of being captured once again.

Venus sighed, knowing that she didn't want to lie to her husband. Over their substantially lengthy marriage, Venus felt that Leonardo had been more than patient with her. They had survived so many critical speed bumps in their relationship. First was the fact that she had slept with Raphael. Before they were captured the first time, both of the turtles secretly knew that they liked each other, though neither of them at the time had the courage to advance their interest. Even though Venus knew Leonardo had an intense crush on her, she still went ahead and pursued a relationship with his lifetime rival, Raphael. The fact that she had chosen Raph over him was like a slap in the face for Leo. Naturally, after the tragedy that had befallen the red-wearing turtle, Leonardo never mentioned his feelings about the subject to Venus. Although he loved his adopted son with all his heart, it was still the principle of the matter that the love of his life had originally picked someone else to be with.

Next was the whole scandal with Venus giving birth to Michelangelo's child. Surprisingly, Leonardo was rather accepting of the new circumstances, though he did mention a few times that it did cross his mind that she could have cheated on him. It hurt her to know that there was some distrust lodged in Leo's heart, though deep down she couldn't blame him. After all, it was only Mike and her words against his, so there would always be that element of reasonable doubt. Now Venus was in the position where she could easily cheat on her husband with Donatello. If Venus fell pregnant with Don's child, then she could easily pass it off as being one of Leo's offspring. If that happened, then Leo would get the child he wanted while at the same time the gene pool would be broadened. Yet while that thought did cross her mind, she knew that she could never treat Leonardo like that. She loved him too much. Although he was sometimes stubborn and oppressive, he was indeed a patient and understanding gentleman. With such an unsteady past as far as relationships and children went, Venus knew that she was lucky to have a husband like him, and she never wanted to do anything that would permanently damage their love for each other.

Yet there was another option. Venus knew that it would hurt Leo's heart to hear her suggest what was on her mind, but the female turtle knew that she had to ask, as the fate of their species rested on the decisions they made in the present day. "Donatello… I've been thinking…" Venus started off. "What would you think if you and I-"

"-Shhh!" Donatello suddenly hushed Venus, swiftly placing a hand over her mouth. She was shocked by his sudden actions, but soon she heard the unusual noise as well. Something else was in the forest. It wasn't the sound of man. Whatever it was, it clip-clopped closer and closer leaving no hints that it was going to halt in its footsteps anytime soon. With such a steady and confident inhuman pace, the turtles quickly dashed for cover, hiding behind the large trunk of a tree. Peering through the many vines that drooped and dropped from the top of the tree, Don and Venus observed a trail of horses travel by them. From what they could surmise by the clothing and equipment the riders were carrying, the turtles could easily tell that they were professional hunters.

Instinctively, Don and Venus wanted to immediately inform the rest of their family. Yet they had traveled quite a fair way away from their lair, and rushing back would have been extremely risky. For starters, they could accidentally cross the path of the hunters themselves and end up getting captured or inadvertently lead the enemy to the lair. Secondly, they couldn't attack their foe, as there were ten horsemen armed with tranquiliser guns, so the turtles knew they were instantly outmatched. Thirdly, as Leonardo had always instructed them, it didn't matter who was caught, but rather it was more important that there was someone still free and available to conduct a rescue mission. Naturally none of them wanted it to come down to that tactic, though Donatello and Venus now had the opportunity of staying free. With the hunters on horseback between them and their home, the two turtles knew that it would take too long to devise a safe detour route back to the lair in order to ensure they weren't followed, and by that time all might have been lost anyway. Although they hated the immediate choice they had to make, Don and Venus could only hope and pray that the others would be alright.

* * *

Leonardo smiled at the two children training in front of him. Gabriel was busy perfecting his numerous katas while Iris was getting some target practice with her blowgun. It pleased Leo immensely at how well the two children were doing in their studies. The leader of the clan had been so stressed lately with all the hysteria related to the videotape, radio collar and scientists, that he had almost forgotten how much he enjoyed just simply teaching the younger generation. Leo never allowed himself to become completely relaxed in his job, especially when Iris always managed to keep him alert and on his toes whilst tutoring them. Yet teaching certainly provided Leo with that family atmosphere that he desired; the fact the he was improving the team as a whole, not just helping individuals. He gained so much satisfaction from instructing the junior members and just loved being an important part in their lives. Although he would sometimes hold off teaching ninjitsu because he worried about the noise volume or aggression levels, he always knew that he couldn't stop it for long because of the fact that he enjoyed it so much.

Taking his eyes off his son's kata for a moment, Leonardo sighed with worry when he noticed that Diana and Raphael were the only other ones still at home. It concerned him that Michelangelo had been gone for some time, while it seemed that Donatello and Venus had decided to take a lengthy walk. Leo sort of wished that he could control everyone and their movements, but he knew that he couldn't impose that amount of restraint on other's lives. They all were aware of the dangers, and they all knew that they were to only leave the lair for legitimate and important reasons. Leo had set the rules, and while he could lecture his followers to death about what he personally thought, in the end it was up the others to obey.

Leonardo's eye-ridges furrowed when he thought he heard some heavy breathing. Ears straining to hear more, Leo observed Iris puffing into her blowgun and simply associated the odd sound he noticed to the actions his niece was performing. Watching the little yellow bandanna-wearing child, Leo frowned when he heard the noise again, though this time it sounded like more of a snort than a deep breath being exhaled, and Iris' blowgun was nowhere near her mouth. Suddenly getting the feeling that he was being watched, Leo's eyes scanned across the line of tree trunks. Heavy metal-lined feet plodded onto the ground, disturbing leaves and kicking the smaller pebbles down the slope. Now that he was focusing on the sounds of the forest, Leonardo cursed himself for not being more alert a few minutes earlier; he was so rapt up with pride when watching his son's kata that he had let his guard drop even though he was usually quite vigilant. Still looking around, Leo finally pinpointed the direction that the noises were coming from.

A fair way in the distance, just behind the flimsy trunks of a few struggling trees, Leonardo spotted a cream coloured horse and it's rider. The turtle froze in shock, completely surprised with what he saw. It wasn't long till the hunter saw him as well. The horse whinnied quickly in annoyance as the rider forced it to break out into a gallop. Soon the other men appeared from behind the wisps of the ferns and trees, striding faster and faster towards what was left of Leo's clan. Now the sound of the horse's breath was clear; the creature's rapid footsteps were terrifying. There were ten in all, just enough to make Leo really panic.

"Run!" Leonardo yelled over the foreboding sound of the thundering hooves. Iris and Gabriel instantly obeyed, kept a hold of their weapons, before dashing away from the hunters. Raphael started to approach Leonardo, though the blue-wearing turtle raised his hand, signaling the teenager to stop. "Raph! Go with the others!" Leo instructed.

"But I can help you!" Raphael yelled back, intensely gripping both sai, ready to strike.

"Don't worry about me! I need you to lead the others!" Leonardo screamed at the turtle, just wanting him to get away from all the chaos. Raph gave him a little nod before finally making his escape. Diana, who had been waiting for her half-brother on the edge of what they considered to be the lair, started to run as well once she saw that Raph was coming. They knew what Leo had planned. Using horses, the men were much faster than the mutant reptiles, meaning that they simply couldn't run away. Along with carrying tranquilizer dart guns, the turtles knew that they had the odds stacked against them. Yet horses were large, bulky animals, where because of the unsteady ground and tree-infested habitat, they would naturally encounter troubles in high-speed chases especially if they tried to run past trunks that were situated too close together. However, it wasn't as though the turtles were the skinniest creatures on the planet and therefore they wouldn't be able to exploit that fact very well. So essentially they were left with only a few choices; run and hide, stay and fight, or simply hope that they ran out of ammunition considering how difficult it would be to shoot accurately from a galloping horse.

It was clear to Raphael that Leonardo had chosen to stay and fight. At first it seemed to be a ridiculous choice in Raph's eyes, but he quickly realised that his dad had automatically assumed that Don, Venus and Mike had already succumbed to the hunters' sedatives. If all of them had ran, because the horses were faster and the turtles would have to turn their back on them in order to sprint away, it was most likely that all of them would have been shot from behind. Leonardo was providing a much-needed distraction; sacrificing his own freedom for those of his children. It was true that Raphael was more than capable in helping Leo fight, yet the blue-wearing turtle never expected to escape, and if all the older members of the clan were captured, then the chances of a rescue attempt succeeding was slim, especially if all of the remaining ninjas were inexperienced. Diana, Iris and Gabriel needed Raphael to lead them.

As the ten horsemen broke into the lair, there was a bit of confusion. Some of the animals reared at the threatening sight of Leonardo, taken aback by the large reptile. The turtle held his single katana up high, eyes keen to pick up every little useful detail. Feeling as though they were too close together, after some mouthing and hand signals, five horsemen broke away, deciding to chase after the rest of the turtle family. Leonardo wasn't going to allow that. As half of the group tried to zoom past, Leo swiped a leg of one of the riders, causing the man to scream in agony as he desperately tried to stop the bleeding. The other four continued on their way. A shot was fired, and Leo was lucky to dodge it. It was clear that the horses were starting to become spooked; one man had his horse cantering in circles, the animal bucking and shaking its head, before finally he ordered the brown beast to gallop after the other four turtles that he had noticed sprinting from the scene. Leo frowned. Five men were still after the younger members of the clan, one was injured, another was helping his wounded friend, while the last three were trying to make quick work of Leonardo.

The turtle rushed forwards and grabbed onto one man's leg, tugging desperately in order to pull him down from off his mare. Yet the hunter wailed in fear, kicking viciously and hitting Leonardo over the head with a spare hand. The turtle reluctantly backed away when he knew that he was unable to dislodge his opponent. Leo didn't want to attack the horses, but rather the men that mastered them, however it was the difference in height which really put Leo at a disadvantage when it came to close combat. Breaking out into a canter, the three horsemen circled around the turtle. Leonardo stood in a ready stance. One hunter took aim. The shot missed. Leo wondered if he would be able to outlast their ammunition, though deep down he knew that he was facing professionals. Once again Leo made a move, running forward and aiming to slash another man's leg, though he ended up cutting into the horse instead. The four-legged beast reared in pain, accidentally knocking its rider to the ground. Leonardo seized the opportunity and leapt towards the fallen hunter…

Another shot was heard. It had been so long since he had felt the sting of a tranquilizer. He didn't have to look; he knew he had been hit just below his right elbow. Leonardo continued on with his attack anyway, slashing across the fallen man's palms as he raised his hands for protection. Leo staggered to the side, his sword starting to feel extremely heavy. Leo breathed deeply, trying to find some strength left in his body to finish off his enemy. He ran towards the man again, though he took one too many steps, missing his target completely. The turtle shakily tightened his grip on the hilt of his katana. He grunted and gritted his teeth, just trying to stay awake. The other hunters watched from a fair distance, just waiting for him to drop to floor in unconsciousness. Leo mustered up the strength to raise his sword, though it quickly fell out of his relaxing grip. He tried to cling onto that last thread of his conscious mind, trying to fight against the sedatives using pure willpower, though he knew that he was quickly losing the battle. Soon he was unable to focus; his eyesight booming, almost thumping in a rhythmic beat, eventually getting darker and darker. The hunters let out a sigh of relief when Leonardo finally collapsed.

Raphael jumped and sprinted through the ferns, attempting to place some more ground between himself and his attackers. He had heard numerous shots fired, causing him to assume that Leonardo was no longer awake. Raph tried his best not to worry about his leader and instead just kept running, not wanting to make Leo's sacrifice a waste. Diana was a fair distance ahead of him. He had no idea where his other two siblings were. Raph didn't need to turn around; just from listening he could tell from the spattering of hooves and thundering of steps that the hunters weren't too far behind. The men were gaining on them.

Raphael looked ahead, swiftly attempting to think up an ingenious escape route, although no such plan came to mind. He knew they had to hide fairly soon, otherwise the men would be too close for them to conceal themselves. A large group of bushes situated in-between two tightly packed tree trunks loomed ahead. "Diana! The bushes!" Raphael tried his best to call out, though he found his voice wasn't loud enough because he was puffing so hard. The girl ran straight past, giving Raphael no sign that she had heard his suggestion. Panting hard, Raph knew that he had no control over the situation. He could make up the distance between his half-sister and himself, however that would take time, while the longer he ran, the more likely the horses were going to eventually catch up. Being the last one to run away from the lair, Raph figured he would be the first to be caught out of the remaining members of the clan, since he was trailing behind the most. He hated the decision he had to make, yet he couldn't think of another solution.

Muscles straining to lift his body weight, especially after running so hard, Raphael swiftly climbed up a tree, scrambling to reach the top. It was an unpredictable spot, and even if some of the horsemen did see him up above, they wouldn't shoot as he would fall to his death, unless they constructed another way to bring him down from the tall canopy. Hugging the trunk of the tree tightly, Raphael watched as Diana kept running, just hoping that she would change her tactics soon. He couldn't help her now.

The hunters didn't see where Raphael went and instead kept riding on. Bits and pieces of plant life were strewn and flung across the ground as the horses' hooves pounded into the earth, destroying the forest floor and its native inhabitants. Startled birds quickly flew out of the way before they were hammered by the galloping animals' splaying legs. The horses were having a hard time navigating their way through the forest, but the humans kept urging them on, gaining ground on the little white female turtle. Diana was almost out of breath. It was now too late to hide. She couldn't help but wonder what had become of her half-brother. Tired of running, she withdrew her kamas and prepared to fight.

She froze up. Diana just couldn't find the courage within herself to face up against the oncoming herd of horses. It wasn't an unusual problem. Many martial artists had trouble fighting in life threatening scenarios, mainly because the training they had undertaken at their dojo had a completely different atmosphere, and therefore they couldn't adapt readily enough to the drastic changes in the environment. Diana was a very knowledgeable student, Raphael even more so, however what they both lacked was real life experience. From the age of fifteen, the first generation had been battling villains on a regular basis, yet the second generation led a more sheltered life and therefore lacked the natural fighting spirit and instinct needed in the heat of battle. As the horses came closer, Diana swung her kamas, though her moves were off. Three of the horsemen kept going, hoping to catch up to Iris and Gabriel. The other two stayed behind, circling the girl, trapping her in-between the bodies of the sweating horses, threatening her with the clopping feet of the animals.

Raphael watched fearfully from his elevated position. He questioned whether he should help her, though he knew that he should assume the worst and figure that he would be instantly captured as well. It irritated him that he couldn't assist Diana, but the fact was that the odds were still stacked against him. He was so angry that he wanted to scream in frustration, though he knew he couldn't blow his cover. Raph had to think of the larger picture.

One man took his time to load a special tranquil into his gun while his partner distracted the young teenager. One shot and it was all over. Diana staggered slightly, but she quickly gave way to the drugs. Once again Raphael wanted to climb down the tree in order to give the two men a good thrashing, but he never moved a muscle. Although it hurt him deeply to see his family get treated like rabid animals, he had to keep calm, focused, and most of all remember his ninjitsu training, not giving into the raging beast that struggled to be released from within.

By this time the other three hunters were on the tails of Iris and Gabriel. The two youngest turtles didn't have much energy left. As Gabriel ran, his mind raced for answers and solutions. _'If we stay together, then we have a better chance of fending off the hunters,'_ the boy thought to himself, trying to formulate a plan. He was just about to say something to his half-sister when he realised that she was no longer by his side. _'Damn it!'_ Gabriel cursed to himself as he observed the girl dash off in another direction. Only one of the horsemen decided to follow her, leaving only two to try and capture Gabriel. Now on his own, the boy tried to think of a few Shinobi illusion techniques that could confuse his pursuers, however he soon quickly discovered that he was not talented enough to pull off such moves in such a stressful situation and without proper meditation beforehand. Almost trampling the turtle, the two horses ran either side of Gabriel. Cleverly one man unhooked a large net that was strapped across the rump of his horse. He expertly threw one end of the net to his friend, which he caught with extreme ease. Gabriel looked behind causing his eyes to widen in fear. Within seconds he was scooped up into the heavy net. The boy gasped in shock as he quickly became tangled, tripping and rolling across the forest floor, only becoming more and more muddled within the weights and rows of thick, tightly knotted rope. Having an expertise in pressure points, he didn't carry a bladed weapon that would have aided him in his escape from the net. Gabriel was defeated.

Unlike her half-brother, Iris had a massive advantage. She knew the land. For once all of her troublesome wanderings had finally paid off. Iris twisted and turned around trees, making it extremely difficult for the rider to navigate his horse around the landscape while also not providing the man with a clean shot. Iris held an almost playful, arrogant attitude as she toyed with her pursuer. She loved the thrill of the chase and how it enlivened her wild spirit. Yet the hunter still managed to stay right on track. Breaking out into a straight, Iris knew that a large log lay dead ahead. When she came to it, she leapt over the large fallen trunk and hid on the other side, making sure she squeezed as close to the bark as possible. The rider was so close to the turtle that he couldn't comprehend everything that was happening, so he hurriedly forced his horse to leap over the log. Iris smiled with success before swiftly jumping back over the dead trunk and running back the way she came. Horses weren't exactly machines that could be switched on and off. Instead, after the jump, the horse still kept going in the wrong direction and then the rider had to make it perform a tight turn in order to continue on with the chase. The whole series of movements didn't take too long, however it did give Iris a larger lead on her attacker.

Iris had a large, cocky grin planted on her face, however when a tranquil was fired, her smirk quickly disappeared. The man had missed, but not by much. Iris kept running, skidding and veering around some close-knit trees, though none of her actions seemed to lose her professional pursuer. Eventually she came to a dead end. Iris looked around in panic when she realised she had come to the edge of a cliff. The hunter slowed his horse down into a trot, carefully approaching the turtle. The man couldn't shoot; if he did, then the girl could fall forwards, head first into the canopy below. Not wanting to scare the yellow-wearing creature, the man calmly unhooked the net he carried. Iris stared at the man, then stared back down the edge of the cliff. Ready to restrain her, the hunter took two steps forwards with his horse… and so did Iris. The man was flabbergasted. Iris had jumped off the cliff. There was silence. The man didn't know whether he should think of the animal as being stupid, or whether he should admire the little turtle for her courage. Either way, he was baffled at the sight of the small yellow-wearing turtle hurtling over the cliff. A great amount of sadness suddenly swept through the human's heart – the girl had picked death over being captured. Curious, the man dismounted and carefully walked over to the edge of the cliff… and saw nothing. Not a trace. Sighing with mixed emotions, he mounted his horse and slowly cantered back to help his friends with their reptilian prizes.

* * *

Michelangelo raced through the forest, just hoping that he wasn't too late. Ferns smacked his thighs as he ran, breath puffing erratically, his heart booming beside his ears. By the time he reached the lair, his legs burned from the lack of oxygen, though physical pain was the last thing on his mind. Hoof marks were embedded into the dirt and were strewn from one side of his outdoor home to the other. In the middle of the lair lay Leonardo's single katana. Breathing hard, Michelangelo stealthily sneaked to one side of the area, quickly scouting inside the caves just to see if anyone had hid inside. No one. Michelangelo shuddered as he easily put all of the clues together. He was alone.

To be continued…


	13. Alone At Last

Author's Notes: Over the next few weeks expect updates to come slower. Over the past week (well, month, really) I've had an extraordinary amount of bad luck. So basically I'll be trying to get my life back on track. I'll really aim to keep updates frequent, though I can't promise anything. Also, although this chapter is fairly slow, there'll definitely be more happening in the next update.

Chapter Thirteen: Alone At Last.

Donatello and Venus' muscles ached as they climbed up the last rock. Finally they had arrived at the rendezvous spot. The two turtles were currently standing halfway up a fairly steep mountain. Its limited accessibility was one of the reasons why it was almost considered a place to live all those years ago, when they were originally trying to find a lair. The area could be easily defended, since attackers would have to ascend a narrow path that could be gingerly viewed from anyone already standing at the top. Although that particular location was nearby a freshwater source along with access to fish and fertile grounds that could be farmed, in the end the area's greatest asset, its inaccessibility, was the reason why the turtles had picked the position that they now called home instead. Another flaw the rendezvous point had was that it didn't offer a lot of shelter from the elements, unlike their current lair, which consisted of the various little caves and alcoves.

"Do you think they'll come?" Donatello asked Venus as he tiredly sat down.

"I hope so…" Venus trailed off, her voice filled with worry. "This is the correct place, right?" the female turtle wondered.

"Yeah. I'm fairly certain that Leo said that this is the spot to meet if anything bad happens," Don commented, giving Venus a weak smile as an attempt to cheer her up. She nodded in response and quietly sat down beside him, but he knew that Venus was extremely concerned for the rest of her family. Don didn't blame her, as he was feeling the exact same way.

"The kids know about this place, right?"

"I'm sure Leo told them where it was," Don said.

"Do you think they're alright?" Venus asked after a small pause.

"I hope so… I guess all we can do is wait," Donatello grimly pointed out. Silence fell between them as the sun gradually sank lower and lower into the horizon; the two turtles never taking their eyes off that bottle-necked track, just praying that they'll see a familiar reptilian face.

* * *

"This isn't what we agreed on!" one of the hunters angrily announced after he had painstakingly counted through the wads of cash Dr Yesmal had offered him.

"Well you didn't exactly carry out your end of the deal. So you're only getting half the amount," Dr Yesmal argued, just wanting the irate horsemen to pack up and go home.

"Our end of the deal?" the hunter repeated in disbelief, turning around to view his comrades' furious expressions as well, as though to make sure he was feeling the exact same thing as his friends. "We went through a lot of trouble just to bring you the three of them! Two of our men are in hospital while one of our horses is seriously injured!" the hunter exclaimed.

"That's not my problem."

"It _is_ your problem!"

"You killed one of the turtles. An unknown and unregistered one at that! I could lose my job over that mistake alone! Now I'm willing to let that little detail slide, if you accept the amount that is given to you, otherwise I'm going to report what you did to the authorities, even if I have to destroy my own reputation in the process!" Dr Yesmal hissed. It was only a bluff, and he was fairly certain that the horsemen knew it was one as well. Yet he still wanted to remain firm on his decision of only paying half-price and that the offer was non-negotiable. The scientist knew he was ripping off the hunters, as he did know the men went to great lengths in not just simply chasing down the turtles, but also in transporting their unconscious bodies all the way back to the campsite. Still, it was the principle of the matter, and he didn't get what he paid for, therefore he shouldn't have to lose every dime he had originally offered.

The hunter frowned and so did his friends upon the realisation that the scientist wasn't going to back down. "At the very least, can you see to the horse? You're a vet, aren't you?"

Dr Yesmal almost growled when he heard that title. It was true; he was originally a vet, however over the years he considered himself higher up in the hierarchy. He currently viewed himself as a geneticist – a world renown scientist, not some simple doctor for little puppies and measly kittens. Like most days, Dr Yesmal's arrogance got the better of him, forcing himself not to stoop so low even though treating their horse would have been a gesture of compassion and not at all related to his status. "I don't operate on horses," Dr Yesmal snidely remarked. The hunter snarled, completely fed up with the scientist's games. "I'll look one up for you though; make a few phone calls," Dr Yesmal grudgingly offered, knowing that if he angered the horsemen any more, then he would have absolutely no hope in hiring the men again should he ever need them. He doubted he would be able to ask for their help in the future, though he wasn't completely stupid and finally decided to at least end the conversation on a friendlier note.

The hunters reluctantly agreed before eventually walking away so they could pack up their gear and equipment. There were little murmurs running amok among the men, though while most of the whisperings were about how bad the deal was handled, one particular suggestion definitely sparked their interest. "You know, I heard that this guy called Leeroy was interested in those turtles," one of the men started explaining to one of his friends. "Apparently he used to have connections to the late Simon Bonesteel. He may be a bit shady, but I've heard rumours that he's willing to pay triple the amount of what Yesmal is paying. Dead or alive," the hunter said with an intrigued and wicked sparkle in his eye. The other horsemen stared at their friend, pondering over his words for a few seconds before finally continuing to pack up their gear. Although Dr Yesmal was still nearby, the scientist didn't hear one word of their brief conversation.

Sighing, Dr Yesmal swiftly made his way over to the gym that had transformed itself into a laboratory and now an animal holding facility as well. Three of the newly purchased cages were now filled; two with unconscious forms and one with an unknown black-wearing turtle. Quite flustered already, Dr Yesmal showed no emotion towards the staring reptile, instead resorting to flicking through some of his paperwork in a frustrated manner. He didn't look up when he recognised Dr Aquel in his peripheral vision.

"So what exactly are you going to tell the warden?" the female scientist inquired, stepping away from the entrance and slowly heading towards her colleague.

"Simple. Luck would have it that the bumbling idiots out there just so happened to catch the blue turtle's bloodline. So we can therefore treat the blue male and white female for their allergies, while the black turtle is here so we can process its DNA. It all conveniently falls under medical reasons," Dr Yesmal smugly summarised. Dr Aquel frowned, knowing that he was only making up excuses.

"Do you believe that Andrew Walker will accept that?" Dr Aquel calmly wondered. Dr Yesmal gave her a dark glare.

"Why would that imbecile question anything that we do?" Dr Yesmal asked rather harshly. The female scientist looked away, simply hating her workplace and the uncomfortable feeling she kept on experiencing on a regular basis. It never used to be that way. Dr Aquel often enjoyed going to work. Yet since the turtles had been rediscovered in Hawaii, for some reason she had noticed that her colleague had drastically altered his personality for the worse.

"So what exactly do you plan to do now?" Aquel quietly said. She absolutely hated the position she was in, but she knew that she just had to keep on working. Her job was the only thing she knew - the only important part of her life, and even though her coworker was quickly becoming an arrogant fool, she just knew she had to keep on going.

"Where's Quease?" Dr Yesmal questioned, ignoring her question entirely as though he didn't want to convey any of his thoughts and ideas.

"He went back to his hotel in town. Why?"

"Damn it!" Dr Yesmal angrily exclaimed, starting to storm towards the door. "We need him!" he growled, thinking of his future plans involving the turtles. The male scientist disappeared from view, but he swiftly returned, only sticking his head back into the room. "Oh! Phone a vet for me, will you! One that specialises in horses," Dr Yesmal commanded before walking away entirely. Dr Aquel sighed, knowing that Yesmal would return in a few minutes once he found the phone number for the hotel the reclusive Dr Quease was staying at. The female scientist simply stood in the one spot, her thoughts fixated on all of the possibilities she could adopt. Turning her head, she stared at the three turtles before finally focusing her gaze on the alert little black-wearing reptile. The creature was surreally calm and composed, especially when she acknowledged the age the child must have been. There was an unusual expression planted on his face, as though throughout all of his short life he was expecting that he would one day be held captive. It was almost heartbreaking for Aquel to see such maturity in the face of a nine-year-old, just accepting the horrible facts of his species. She wished she could free him. She even walked through the motions in her mind. Yet her body never moved.

Slowly, Dr Aquel raised one hand and gave the boy a tiny wave, just wanting to communicate with the turtle. The boy gave the scientist a little smile before waving back. Dr Aquel sighed once again, knowing that it wouldn't be too long till her coworker returned and therefore she didn't have time to make any further contact with the prepubescent reptile. Attempting to focus on her job instead, the woman started to follow out Dr Yesmal's orders and began to search for a vet.

* * *

"No one else has come," Venus stated the obvious as she stared out into the darkening forest from her elevated position. Donatello sighed and shifted restlessly beside her. It was almost nightfall and both of the turtles knew that it was extremely unlikely for anyone to travel through the woods in the dark. On one hand it was good because it meant that they were going to be safe, yet the black atmosphere was also bad, as they wouldn't be able to reunite with any other members of the clan until the following day.

"I guess it's just going to be you and me then," Don said softly.

"Maybe no one was caught. What if the lair wasn't found? What if everyone is back home worrying about us?" Venus fretted.

"I hate to say this, but… the men were heading straight to our lair," Donatello voiced his concern, assuming the worst. "Maybe tomorrow we'll wait here a bit longer before checking out the lair to see what has happened, if anything." Judging from his grim thoughts, it was clear to Venus that Donatello didn't hold much hope.

"Do you think there's anyone else that's still free?" Venus pondered even though it was impossible for Don to accurately answer.

"Gabriel's a clever boy. I'm sure he slipped away in time. Leo would have attempted to fight. Same with Raph. I dunno about Mike. Iris has probably been captured; she can never seem to stay out of trouble. While Diana…" Donatello trailed off, not finishing off his speculative guesses.

"…I hope Diana hasn't been caught," Venus whispered, her voice shuddering at the thought. Donatello knew exactly what she meant. Out of all of them, it was Diana and Venus who were at risk of having their lives altered the most, barring the military's obsession with Don. Just because they were female, they automatically qualified for several intrusive experiments, namely artificial insemination. Iris was also at risk of falling pregnant, however she was fortunately too young, though Don was certain that the scientists would find a way around that little problem if they were ruthless enough.

Donatello didn't know what to say in order to offer some comfort. He knew the truth. He knew that Diana might already be pregnant, which meant that they would have to rescue their family as soon as possible if they didn't want the egg or newborn baby to fall victim to experimentation as well. Yet although he was on the verge of revealing all to the girl's mother, particularly disclosing information on Diana's relationship with Raphael, in the end Don managed to keep his mouth shut. He didn't know for certain whether the girl had been captured, and if she were indeed still free, then he would only succeed in destroying his niece's trust. That was why he didn't say a single word about the girl's current lifestyle – it wasn't necessary for Venus to know, however the circumstances could easily change and in the end Don realised that he might eventually be forced to spill the entire truth anyway.

"I worry about her as well," Donatello admitted softly, just pondering over everything that could happen to the young white-wearing turtle.

"I hope they don't make her pregnant. Not now. She's way too young to deal with this… She's still a child…" Venus trailed off once again.

"It shouldn't be like this," Donatello started.

"Like what?" Venus urged him to continue; stating a question that caused Don to wonder why she even had to ask for clarification.

"Science shouldn't be like this," Don said. Venus looked him in the eyes with a keen yet stern gaze. It was clear to him that the female turtle wanted to hear more of his line of thought. "I used to think that science would be able to answer everything; that it would be the salvation or answer for many people… But now I know I'm wrong," Don sighed. Venus raised an eye-ridge, wondering what point he was trying to make.

"Go on," she urged, still curious.

"Well… I guess I now realise that science isn't the answer to everything. In fact, it's quite the opposite – it's the problem. When I was younger, I used to hate all the right-wing fundamentalists who disapproved all of the new technologies. I thought they were bigoted idiots who were too blind to see all of the benefits involved; to see how far we could advance; what mysteries could be unlocked in the world. But now I see why they were so opposed to everything; they were only thinking of the future. They were only trying to apply morals, because without it, science will just end up treating humans just like how shallowly humans are treating us. I must admit, it's impressive what the scientists can do… but in the end, a procedure that was designed to help people, is now being used to exploit my niece," Donatello rambled on, rather confused with how he should feel.

Venus gave the male turtle a small smile. "Sounds to me like you're finally developing your spirituality. Congratulations. It only took you thirty-seven years," Venus smirked. The purple-wearing turtle rolled his eyes before returning to his train of thought.

"…Maybe I am," Don sighed. "I've been thinking about morals in general quite a lot lately, maybe a little too much. Like… what is right and wrong anymore? Is it right for two relatives to fall in love if there's no other option? Is it right to allow a girl to fall pregnant if it means the continuation of the species? Is it right to force genetically compatible couples together, negating their options as to whether they want children in the first place or who they want to love? I mean, thanks to science, we live in such a bizarre world these days, where the infertile breed and the fertile kill off their young… Is that right? Is that how it should be? Did humans really think everything through when these scientific procedures became legalised and accepted as the norm? And most of all… where do we stand?" Donatello continued to unload his mind into his mouth, spurting out whatever words hit his tongue. He was whispering even though he could have said his questions louder, but Venus felt he spoke softly probably because he didn't know if he should be thinking such things.

"Donatello…" Venus started her response after she paused long enough to grasp what his mind was trying to comprehend. "Years ago, before we were captured, you once told me that science was unbiased. That's true. Science is emotionless and unsympathetic. That's why people try hard to apply a moralistic understanding to the practices, in order to accommodate human feeling. Unfortunately science can achieve so much these days that somehow morals get confused with desires and the ideal of personal happiness," Venus responded.

"But… why do we even have morals in the first place?" Donatello asked in a hushed whisper, looking away from Venus' gaze. "…Have you ever wondered what life would be like if we never came into contact with the ooze? I mean, we'd just be blissfully ignorant of how the world works. But that's what I don't understand. Why then, when we were mutated, did our minds evolve so much? Are we really part human? It doesn't make sense. Every book I've ever read that addresses the theory of evolution states that when creatures evolve, unnecessary qualities or physical aspects become obsolete and gradually disappear over time. If anything, having morals hinders our species… so why do we have them?" Don asked. Venus could tell that that question had been bugging Don's mind for quite some time.

"Donatello, I don't have an answer for you. I also don't think science holds the answer either. There are some things in this world that we'll never know," Venus summarised sadly.

"…I know… Sorry. I didn't mean to ramble on like that," Don apologised, not really knowing what he was talking about anymore.

"Don't be sorry. These are valid questions. Obviously they've been on your mind for a while, so it's best to let it all out," Venus said with a small smile, gently placing a hand on his closest shoulder. "I may not be able to answer everything, but I can tell you something that my Master, Chung I, once told me," Venus started to say, causing Donatello to pay close attention, as it was quite rare for Venus to bring up her deceased mentor. "If we have desires, yearnings and questions that cannot be fulfilled in this world, then we are not for this world," the aqua-wearing turtle quoted. Donatello paused for a moment just to ponder over her master's teachings.

"Then what world are we for?" Don couldn't help but wonder.

"…I wish I knew…" Venus whispered, staring at her feet that were now solely illuminated by the white shine of the moon. "I like to think that everything happens for a reason though. That our mutation wasn't just some random accident; rather we're the start of something new. I suppose I just find comfort in that belief; to feel that we're not simply going to rot as a bag of bones. It's too scary for me to accept the alternative. Life would just seem so pointless and arduous if it was all for nothing," Venus said, looking upwards at the stars, as though searching for an answer that wouldn't appear.

"And that's true too," Don murmured. He followed her gaze and stared at the dark sky as well, reflecting back on what he had spoken of that evening. There was a long pause, but it wasn't because they had nothing to say, rather it was because they had too many questions scampering around in their minds that they didn't know what one to ask first. "I don't know what to think anymore," Donatello suddenly broke the lengthy silence. "Diana doesn't deserve to be victimised by these scientists, and yet the scientists are only trying to help our species. I hate that. I hate our whole situation," Don muttered, almost to the point of growling.

"…So I suppose you don't approve of IVF?" Venus asked timidly.

"Well… that's not true. It's helped millions of people worldwide. Yet it has also degraded so much. Women have turned into incubators, children are simply little balls of DNA that can be selected and engineered, while men continue on their legacy by ejaculating into a cup! It's just so… artificial. Where's the humanity when it comes to creating the next generation of humans?" Donatello cynically stated, though his voice still contained that hint of uncertainty as though he didn't know if what he was saying was indeed correct.

"Then I guess you won't like what I wanted to suggest," Venus sighed softly, staring at her feet once more.

"What is it?"

"Don't worry."

"No, tell me. What is it?" Donatello insisted.

"What would you think if… you and I were to have a child together through using IVF?" Don was about to interject but Venus quickly continued her reasoning. "I mean if we could somehow bypass all the scientists; if we had access to it for ourselves?" she finished her question. As Don sat beside her, rather dumbfounded, Venus suddenly felt that primal urge once again. It was rare for the two of them to be alone together, and a part of her was wondering if she should just remove the IVF factor in her plans and just create a baby the natural way. Her heart raced; she knew it would be exciting to be with another male. Yet shame quickly crept into her soul, once again flooding her mind with all the negative outcomes. No matter how tempting their circumstances at that particular moment were, she knew she couldn't go through with it. Although Leonardo and Venus were not bound by marriage contracts and laws, they had instead made a promise to each other sixteen years ago just like how it was back in the olden days. It was a matter of honour and neither of them wanted to go against their word.

"But what would Leo say?" Donatello asked after pausing for a few moments.

"I haven't mentioned any of this to him," Venus didn't directly answer his question as she knew that her husband would be against her idea.

"Venus… if I had never been separated from the rest of the family… then would have I had stood a chance?" Donatello dared to ask. Although his question was vague, Venus knew what he referred to. Before they spent the sole part of their lives avoiding capture from determined scientists, Donatello and Venus always tended to argue with each other. By the time they had reached their twenties, they had respect for each other and secretly held a slight attraction between themselves, however their beliefs always seemed to get in the way before anything was allowed to progress further. It wasn't until Donatello had fled to Australia that he started to truly pine for Venus. He didn't know if it was out of sheer loneliness or just pure boredom, but he did want someone to love. Don was disappointed when he found out that Venus had moved on and he could never shrug the feeling that he may have been cheated out of his opportunity to get to know the female turtle better. He always questioned 'what if', and he had been itching to find out. A sigh of relief passed through his lips when he finally uttered what he had always wanted to be answered.

"We always argued…" Venus said softly, though a smirk was hinted upon her moonlit face.

"I know," Don murmured, feeling rather foolish all these years later.

"I never knew you even had feelings for me…" Venus admitted, trying her best not to blush from being so blind.

"So the woman stealer strikes again! Very, very smooth Donny. I applaud you!" A voice ruptured the peaceful night breeze, loud and arrogant, filled with sarcasm. Venus and Don's heads swiftly turned so they could look down the track that lead to their rendezvous point. Sure enough, Michelangelo was climbing the path, though Don was certain that he was close enough to hear almost all of the conversation. Donatello swore under his breath, cursing himself for not being more alert. Venus on the other hand simply held a look of horror.

"It's not what you think, Mike!" Don barked angrily, immediately standing upright. Venus jumped up as well, her heart racing in terror.

"Well then I must be going deaf, 'cause I swore I heard something about having babies together and how you've oh-so-conveniently always had a crush on Venus. So you've taken Sarah, and now you're stealing Venus… Is there anyone else in this clan that you can screw over?" Michelangelo hissed as he finally made his way up to the same platform that Donatello and Venus were standing on.

"How much did you hear?" Don demanded an answer.

"Ever since you started babbling on about the afterlife."

"Please don't tell Leo about any of this!" Venus begged.

"Why not? I'm certain that I would like to know if my partner is suddenly interested in someone else," Mike stated, giving Donatello a glare.

"Please Michelangelo!" Venus pleaded softly. Removing his stern gaze from the purple-wearing turtle, Mike locked eyes with Venus and suddenly calmed down once he saw the female's desperate and sorrowful expression.

"…If anything more happens between you two… then I want you to talk to Leo. If you don't, then I'll tell him myself," Mike reluctantly suggested an ultimatum.

"Where is Leo?" Donatello asked, wanting to change the focus of the topic.

"I think he's been caught," Michelangelo reported. "I went to the lair… It's abandoned. I couldn't find anyone else," he added remorsefully.

"None of the kids?" Venus worried.

"No. No one," Mike said bluntly. Don and Venus fell silent.

"We should wait here for a while, just in case some of them escaped…" Don suggested.

"Otherwise it seems like we've got a rescue mission to plan," Mike finished Donatello's line of thought.

* * *

Iris was incredibly proud of herself. She hadn't planned her escape right from the beginning, but rather everything was the result of dumb luck. While running away from the hunter on the horse, after leaping over the fallen tree trunk, Iris knew she had to do something drastic otherwise she would succumb to the same fate as her other clan members. With a flicker of creativity and cunning flashing through her mind, the little girl remembered the cliff she had visited earlier in the week and the small pathway that ran just below the ledge. There wasn't that much space in order to hide from view completely. In fact she had almost missed the small alcove underneath the overhang entirely and could have easily fallen to her death if she was just a few centimeters short. Because she had jumped rather hastily, she ended up scraping her shell as she rapidly grabbed the stony the ledge, though no serious damage was caused; yet Iris knew that she would carry those scratches for a while.

With her carapace pressed tightly against the rock wall and with her head almost hitting the ceiling of the overhang, Iris waited for what seemed hours. While she could hear the hunter retreat, she was scared to move from her position, just in case someone was still lurking around. Realising that the amount of sunlight was fading, Iris knew that she definitely didn't want to sleep in her current precarious position. Carefully she moved along the small dangerous pathway and followed it until it joined back up to the forest floor, just like she had done before.

An owl started to hoot, anxiously awaiting the cover of night. Flocks of songbirds swarmed around the canopy as they sought a place to roost. The forest always seemed scarier at night. Although Iris usually enjoyed her own company, this time she was rather terrified at the thought of being alone. Most of all, she thought about her family and about what might have happened to them. Brave notions suddenly surged through her veins as she acknowledged that she might have to be the one to rescue her loved ones. Completely forgetting about any emergency meeting places, Iris simply decided to stay at a safe location for the night before following the horses' deeply imbedded hoof marks at daylight in the hopes that they would lead her back towards her lost family. Although scared, she had confidence in herself, and along with determination, she knew the land and where to hide or sleep. Despite her chances of failing, Iris committed herself to accomplishing the impossible; to single-handedly carry out a rescue mission.

* * *

Watching the men drape Diana's unconscious body over the rump of their horse was pure agony for Raphael. He couldn't help but think that he might have been able to help. Yet he never moved a muscle, not even an inch. He wanted nothing more than to pound the faces of the people responsible for hurting both his little sister and his girlfriend. Yet anger wasn't what was driving his emotions. Instead it was fear; completely petrified of the truth that he may not see Diana or any other members of his family for quite some time. The teenage boy didn't know what his enemies were planning.

Confused and fearful, as soon as the hunters seemed to have left for good, Raphael climbed back down the tree. Arms trembling with shock and pain, he unleashed his emotions the best way he knew how; through tantrums. After flinging around a few twigs, sticks and stones, the intense feeling of hopelessness began to settle into Raph's shivering body. Staring at the ground, he knew that if he followed the imprints of the horses' hooves, then he would eventually find himself back at the lair, though at that point in time he admitted that it would be too dangerous to return. Raph also didn't know his exact location, mainly because he wasn't that familiar with that part of the forest unlike his younger half-sister, Iris. So he didn't have any strong bearings on what direction to head. A part of him wanted to track down the hunters as part of some twisted revenge, though he also didn't want to follow in their footsteps literally, unwittingly falling into a trap.

Calming down and finally noticing the darkening sky, Raphael started to think through his options. He knew that he should head towards the rendezvous point the adults had stipulated, though he had no idea on what direction to walk towards because of his current confusing position. He could travel back to the lair, though he instinctually knew it would be too dangerous. Not having many options left, Raphael recalled the camp that Michelangelo used to visit in order to collect food. Figuring that it was the closest human settlement in miles, the red-wearing turtle guessed that that might have been where his relatives were taken. Choosing to spend the night at his current location, Raphael decided to head towards what he hoped was the direction the camp lay in, just praying that everyone was safe, and not already thousands of miles away, trapped in a zoo.

To be continued…


	14. My One and Only

Warning: The following chapter is highly controversial. Some of the views expressed may challenge, upset or even squick some readers. Please read my profile page regarding the new review response system.

Chapter Fourteen: My One and Only. 

It was a necessary procedure. Yet that fact didn't make Leonardo feel anymore grateful. Diana, his one and only daughter, laid unconscious a few feet away. Her body was outstretched… and was being inspected by the scientists.

It was an unanimous agreement between the humans; even Dr Aquel had said that it was a good idea. With a fibre optic camera, they were investigating her reproductive organs. Earlier, Dr Yesmal had argued that the population of the species hadn't increased, therefore suggesting that it would be wise to see if there were any reasons behind that claim, even though they didn't have all of the data. Naturally with only one large room at their disposal to work in, the tedious and exploratory procedure had to be done in front of the girl's family members.

Leonardo's knuckles whitened as his muscular hands squeezed the iron bars of his cage. His face was wedged between the gaps, as though he was trying to slip through, anxious to be free on the other side. The cage wasn't that large; possibly only three large paces in width and length, only just long enough for him to lie down comfortably. The floor was lined with newspaper while a few pieces of fruit were dumped on top. A pile of straw could be found in the corner that he could use to do whatever he wanted with, whether that be to use as bedding, or to develop a makeshift toilet. But the quality of his cell wasn't his greatest concern, rather all of his focus was directed at the treatment of his daughter.

"Take a sample," Dr Yesmal advised Aquel, eyes glued to the screen that featured the live fibre optic camera feed. A growl was heard. Immediately all of the scientists' eyes locked onto Leonardo's. The turtle was gritting his teeth; his muscles shaking uncontrollably as he continued to squeeze those metal bars. It was a harrowing sight, and naturally all of them were secretly hoping that the reptile would never break loose. There was an uneasy feeling in the air; a moment of uncertainty, as though the scientists' minds were shattered with how they should react upon Leo's constant scrutiny. The turtle's expression greatly contrasted his son's; Gabriel simply sat in the center of his cage, his feet locked into a lotus position. The boy looked quite placid, almost peaceful, but the scene was rather eerie at the same time. What on earth were those creatures thinking?

A shiver rapidly plunged its way down Dr Yesmal's spine. Yet within an instant, the man continued on with his work. He was going to plod on with his research regardless of the amount of protest he received from whatever sources. Yesmal watched as Aquel started maneuvering the camera around once again. Staring at the screen, it was clear that no eggs were being developed. "Well, I guess she's not pregnant," Yesmal stated.

"Of course she's not! I could have told you that!" Leonardo hissed rather indignantly. Aquel's mind was shattered once again with indecision upon hearing his words. Dr Yesmal, however, kept working, starting to get used to the constant interruptions. In fact, he almost enjoyed the turtle's reactions. It wasn't long till they continued. Since Diana wasn't pregnant, out of curiosity, they took samples of some of her fluids and a few scrapings from her internal organs. Within ten minutes, the procedure came to an end, the camera was withdrawn and the television was switched off. That was where Dr Quease came in.

The eccentric, white-haired scientist was a pioneer in researching genetics. Too bad that he was impossible to work with. When Diana's body samples were handed over to him, Dr Quease was already staring at his watch and pondering what else he could be doing while he was staying in Hawaii. In case some amazing discovery or even an indeterminate result was concluded, Diana was kept sedated for the time being. "How can you stand there and treat her like this? Like some kind of experiment?" Leonardo barked angrily, his voice breaking the stillness of the air. Dr Quease was currently constructing a slide out of one of the samples that was taken from the female turtle's body, however her father's harsh questioning destroyed his focus for an instant. "She's just a little girl!" Leo continued to yell. Gabriel remained silent, causing Aquel to wonder if he was rather traumatised or numb by everything he was witnessing. Grunting, Dr Quease worked onwards, finishing his slide and popping it under a microscope. He hummed, seeming intrigued with what he saw.

"What is it?" Yesmal couldn't resist from asking.

"I found sperm," Dr Quease muttered, eyes still gazing down the scope. "Must've been storing it," the man concluded. There was silence. Leonardo didn't call out. He didn't even growl in response. The turtle just stood, head against the bars, absolutely shocked. His mind rummaged for an explanation, though the answer was rather obvious. Leo faltered slightly when he pondered over who it could have been, though within seconds, he was certain that the male in question was undoubtedly Raphael.

Dr Yesmal stared at Diana's father, almost seeming to be pleased with the turtle's reaction. It was as though he found pleasure in Leo's numb silence. "Guess she's not such a little girl anymore," the man taunted. Now there was a growl. A menacing one at that. He had definitely hit a raw nerve when he made his statement. Dr Aquel gave him an annoyed glare, not appreciating what her co-worker had said. For her, already it was difficult to work with a creature that she cared about, though she rationalised that what she was doing was for the greater good of the species, despite what repercussions Diana might have. However, that didn't mean that she was going to go out of her way to gloat and frustrate the other members of the girl's family, which was exactly what Dr Yesmal seemed to be doing.

Inquiring further, Dr Quease went on to try and identify whom the sperm donor was. Using a program that he had invented over the years, Quease analysed the strands of DNA. It only took half an hour for the answer to be known.

"The red male?" Dr Yesmal replied when Dr Quease announced the verdict. Those words burned through Leo's ears. He knew that Diana and Raphael were close, however he would never have guessed that things would progress so far and so fast. Leonardo didn't know what emotion he was feeling. He only wanted the best for his daughter. Being quite protective, a spark of pure paternal fury shivered through his muscular body. Was Raphael good enough for his daughter? How could he have taken things so far? Most of all, how could he have started a relationship with his half-sister? It made him sick to his stomach that, as an outcome in the not-too-distant future, his adopted son could also possibly be his son-in-law. Those were the types of scenarios that humans both mocked and frowned upon. It was dishonourable.

Yet the more he thought about it, the more the rational side of his internal debate shined through. Could he really blame Raphael? Leonardo always knew that, as far as female mutant turtles went, Diana took after her mother and was quite attractive. Leo knew that when he was seventeen, he used to admire the way Venus looked, so how could he honestly believe that Raph would act differently? Then of course, if it weren't Raph, would there be anyone else that he would prefer to date his daughter? Deep down he realised that he would be just as angry and disturbed if he had learned it was either Michelangelo or Donatello; not that they were dishonourable men, but it was the principle of the matter. Raphael and Diana were similar in age, and Leo ashamedly figured that one day it might come to this, though he still wasn't anymore prepared for the news.

Soon Leonardo didn't know who to be angry with. A part of him felt that Diana should have aimed her standards higher, even though that wasn't exactly possible – it was just a remnant of Leo's protective fatherly feelings. Nevertheless, Leo was ashamed that Diana didn't wait to become sexually active until she was older. Then blue-wearing turtle became angry with himself, cursing that, years ago, he once thought that the couple would have been acceptable when in fact there were clearly many problems and dilemmas involved. It wasn't long till Leo pointed the focus of his anger towards someone else again, though this time he pinned his raw emotions onto the three humans that traversed in front of him.

"We should impregnate her, while she's still unconscious," Dr Yesmal boldly suggested, eyeing the furious reptilian father in order to observe and gain pleasure from his reaction.

"No!" Dr Aquel said defiantly. She positioned herself between Diana and her nasty co-worker, definitely feeling strong on her quick decision. Dr Yesmal huffed in annoyance. He was going to get his way no matter what, but he still wanted his job to be relatively easy.

"And why not?" Dr Yesmal inquired.

"Because we don't know why she didn't fall pregnant! There must be a reason why she stored it!" Dr Aquel insisted.

"But we're helping the species out! Isn't that what you wanted?" Yesmal retorted, forcing his female co-worker to think back on what she had said to him previously.

"Well we're not helping her out. If anything, we'll be endangering her life!"

"How so?" Yesmal asked, though he wasn't necessarily curious, but rather he only wanted to hear her point of view just so that he could argue against it.

"Obviously her body has stored the sperm for a reason. Maybe she's physically not ready to have a child? Maybe the conditions weren't right? With all the crap that you've pulled, she's probably too damn stressed!"

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Dr Yesmal nonchalantly dismissed her concerns. His uncaring attitude only made Dr Aquel angrier.

"You don't know that!" she screamed. Shocked by the volume of her voice, Dr Yesmal stood silently, rather stunned. As though his tongue finally caught up with the words he had been thinking, Yesmal suddenly gave the woman a cold glare.

"Susan… do you like your job?" Yesmal cunningly asked, his voice lathered with malevolence.

"Of course I do," Aquel strongly answered, having no doubts in her mind.

"Well, right now you're stopping me from doing mine. If you continue to do this, then I shall request to the Government to have your involvement with this study ended," Dr Yesmal threatened, his voice low and sinister.

"You'll fire me?" Dr Aquel couldn't believe what lengths the man would go to in order to have his way.

"If I have to, then yes." Dr Yesmal stated. The woman remained silent before reluctantly stepping aside so that the conniving man could approach the white-wearing turtle's unconscious body. It was now obvious how determined and corrupt the male scientist had become. He was so rapt up in his vendetta against the reptiles, that he would no longer listen to common sense and reason, instead solely focusing in tactics that seemed to emotionally torture the turtles. Yet Aquel didn't say much more, instead Leonardo spoke for her.

"You're barbaric!" Leo hissed. Dr Yesmal turned to look at the furious father before giving him another one of his wicked, twisted and cruel smirks.

"Quease, Aquel? Don't just stand there. Help me! Set up the equipment!" Dr Yesmal ordered. Aquel glared at him making it blatantly obvious that she still didn't agree with his course of actions.

"Aren't you even going to check to see if those sperm samples are okay? I mean, those two turtles are related. We should check to see if there'll be any genetic problems," Dr Aquel suggested, trying her best to remain as calm as possible, not wanting to lose her job just yet.

"The way I see it, the foolish turtle would have become pregnant as soon as her body was ready. We're just giving the inevitable a little jump-start," Dr Yesmal snidely commented. Leonardo growled once again.

"You're such a hypocrite! You're not doing your job!" Leo yelled, rattling the bars of his cage out of frustration. Gabriel sat quietly in his cell, rather numb by the unethical and degrading conversation that was being held in front of him.

"And how is that? I'm increasing the numbers of your species! You should be thankful for what I'm about to do! I'm about to make you a grandfather to an inbred bastard!" Dr Yesmal harshly retorted.

The cage rattled viciously. Once again Quease and Aquel instinctively stepped back a few paces. Moving away slightly, Leo rushed forwards and gave the door a solid kick. It thudded and shook, though it still didn't break open. This time Leonardo rammed his shell against the bars, only to get the same effect. "Take that back!" Leo bellowed, completely enraged that he had to resort to vocalisations instead of physical force in order to attempt to receive the respect he and his family deserved.

"That's enough!" Aquel snapped at Yesmal, also fed up by the way the man was behaving.

"Watch what you say, Susan!" Yesmal threatened her again.

"Fine! But you've made your point, why do you have to keep rubbing it in their faces like that?" Aquel wondered, still quite flustered.

"I can do or say whatever the fuck I like!" Dr Yesmal sneered.

"Are we actually going to do the artificial insemination procedure tonight?" Dr Quease finally butted in, staring at his watch and noticing how late it was. He just wanted the arguing to stop so that he could return to his luxurious hotel room.

"Hopefully, yes… That is if we don't have any more protests from Miss Susan Aquel here," Dr Yesmal spoke softly, with an intimidating intent behind his words. Dr Aquel didn't look her co-workers in the eyes. Knowing she was cornered – torn between what she thought was right and wrong – she timidly allowed Dr Yesmal to carry out what he had planned for the little white-wearing turtle.

* * *

Daybreak came on what was an exhausting night. Michelangelo, Donatello and Venus had been awake even before the sun's first rays had reached around the curvature of the earth. From their rendezvous point the forest was a marvelous sight. Giant leafy trees stretched out for miles in front of them. Beyond there was the edge of the island – the ocean shimmering in the dawn of a new day. Yet none of the turtles bothered to appreciate it. They had other things on their mind.

"So what's the plan?" Mike asked, getting straight to the point.

"Who wants to wait an hour, just to see if anyone else will come here?" Don wondered, making the first suggestion. Neither Mike nor Venus objected.

An hour passed. Little was said between the trio, still all rather bitter and awkward about the argument that was held the night before. By now all of the sun could be seen as it slowly traveled across the sky. "Well… I guess no one's coming," Donatello murmured, saying what the other two were thinking.

"Should we check out the lair?" Venus wondered. Mike immediately shook his head.

"When I got there, it looked fairly grim. Anyway, I know for a fact that they're probably keeping Leo and the kids up at that campsite," Michelangelo said.

"Then we'll need to plan something," Venus stated.

"Let's just check out the camp first. There's no need to think up a full-blown rescue if the others aren't even there," Donatello advised.

"You don't think they've been taken back to New York, do you?" Venus worried.

"I hope not," Mike muttered.

"I don't know what the scientists have in mind," Donatello added.

Together they descended down the rocky narrow path, leading to what they considered to be the forest floor, even though in reality they were a fair way above sea level. With Michelangelo leading the way, as he was the one who frequented to the camp so often, the trio stealthily moved in unison, doing their best to not make any sounds. All three of them were still quite alert, especially when they didn't know whether the horsemen would return in an attempt to finish their job. Yet without Leo's strong demand for discipline and silence, it wasn't long till the turtles started to relax slightly. Conversation quickly returned shortly afterwards.

"I wonder what they're doing to them…" Venus softly spoke, being the first to break their silent vigil. It was the horrifying thought that plagued all their minds.

"From what I've heard, the scientists can't do too much," Mike mentioned.

"They can still do quote a lot though," Don morbidly reminded the others.

"They better not hurt Iris," Michelangelo threatened, a growl almost emerging at the thought.

"I hope no one gets hurt," Venus corrected his statement, continuing to travel onwards, hoping to reach the campsite before it got too dark. The rendezvous point was quite a fair way from the human settlement, unlike the lair, which was only a few hours journey or so. They had already lost an hour by waiting to see if anyone else had escaped the ambush.

"Don't fall into denial though. We must be mentally prepared for whatever we find," Donatello advised.

"Yeah, but try at least to be a little bit optimistic," Mike scoffed, getting slightly irritated by Don's constant morbid warnings.

"I'm just saying that we should prepare for the worst. Diana especially. She'll be targeted the most because she's female and because of the age she is," Don pointed out the facts.

"Thinking about babies once again, are we Don?" Michelangelo asked. He said it in a joking manner, with a large grin upon his face. Years ago, Donatello would have recognised that Mike was only poking fun at him, and that his words were completely innocent. Yet Don couldn't see Mike's goofy expression because the orange-wearing turtle was taking the lead. Secondly, over the past few days the two of them had been involved in some very heated arguments, and Don simply interpreted Mike's comment incorrectly and mistook it as another one of his heavy-handed insults.

"No, not really. I thought that Diana was more of your type," Donatello rebuked, cruelly hinting that he held some secrets. He knew that he shouldn't abuse the knowledge he had gained about Diana's private life, mainly for moral reasons, however he felt Mike needed to be put in his place once and for all. Don hated how he felt degraded by Michelangelo, even though the orange-wearing turtle wasn't perfect himself. Now he was to set things straight and remind his non-blood brother that he should be careful about contradicting himself.

Michelangelo stiffened slightly at the claim. His mind whirled with spontaneous questions. How much did Donatello know? Did he know anything, or was it just a joke? Mike swiftly made the decision to get defensive, regardless of how much Donatello knew.

"Oh come on! There's a female in the clan who isn't dating. It's just your style to be all over them," Mike said, this time bordering both on having his comment being interpreted as an insult or a joke.

"Can you please not talk about her like that!" Venus suddenly interjected, quite disgusted with the direction the conversation was heading towards.

"Yep, of course! That explains why you kissed her," Donatello sarcastically said, his words harsh, his voice stern. This time Michelangelo stopped walking completely.

"What?" Venus was stunned, not knowing what to make of Donatello's claim.

He had finally done it. Don had spilled one of the many secrets he had been carrying. Instantly he knew it was wrong to announce such things, especially when it would eventually come back around to Diana that he had told someone else and that he had purposefully broken her hard earned trust. It was a cheap shot that was way too easy for him. Don knew that he would ultimately regret his words, though at the moment he tried his best to enjoy having the upper hand in the upcoming argument. For once Mike was completely blind sighted.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Mike was still defensive, though now he knew for certain that Diana must have spoken about what had happened between them.

"I'm pretty sure that you do," Don continued on with his accusations. It was too late to turn back now.

"What are you two talking about?" Venus wondered, quite confused.

Donatello waited a few seconds to see if Michelangelo would finally drop the innocent act and simply admit to the kiss and the feelings he shared for his niece. But no words ever escaped from his mouth. "Michelangelo kissed Diana," Don summarised simply. Venus was silent, just trying to contemplate everything.

"So?" Mike finally stopped playing dumb, and now tried to defend his true actions.

"How can you do this? She's only thirteen!" Venus raised her voice, quite alarmed at the allegations. She didn't know whether she should be angry, confused or accepting of Mike's point of view.

"And she's the only one for me, literally," Mike argued.

"But Mike, you're the adult! You shouldn't have placed her in that situation!" Don rebutted.

"Gees, I did not have sexual relations with that woman! We only kissed, okay! It was no big deal," Mike quoted, wanting the others to calm down slightly by trying to shrug off the seriousness of the topic.

"No big deal? Mike, you made Diana incredibly confused!" Donatello said.

"She's only a girl, Michelangelo!" Venus yelled, now getting really angry.

"I know that! Okay! I know that I fucked up! Everybody makes mistakes sometimes. Just look at what happened with Sarah and Donny!" Mike argued.

"Don't make this about me!" Don hissed.

"Yeah, but how is me being interested in Diana, who isn't even my true niece in case you need reminding, any worse than how you were interested in Sarah, a human?" Mike wildly questioned, making unclear comparisons.

"We were both adults!" Don yelled.

"And Diana and I are unrelated!" Mike yelled straight back.

"It's just not right, that's why," Venus said sternly.

"Why isn't it right? Who's a better partner for Diana? Raphael? It's ludicrous!"

"Genetically, yes. But socially, no. She's only young, Mike! She doesn't need you pressuring her into a relationship!" Don retorted.

"Stop talking about Diana like this, as though she's just a piece of property!" Venus pleaded, definitely disgusted by the entire topic, and yet she was mostly still confused on how she should feel.

"You're such a hypocrite, Mike!"

"How am I a hypocrite, Don?"

"You claimed that me liking a human was wrong, when in fact you had the same feelings!"

"Oh shut up, Don! What on earth do you expect me to say? First I find out that Venus likes Leo more than me. Next I find that you went behind my back with Sarah. What am I supposed to do? I admit that I screwed up, okay! I know I shouldn't have kissed Diana! I made a mistake! But don't ask me to back down when she gets older, and you better bloody not come into the picture either! You've already taken away everything that I've loved! Don't do it to me again! I fucking envy you, Don!" Michelangelo ranted, getting quite emotional.

"Envy me? Why do you envy me?" Don calmed down slightly, transforming his face into the same confused expression that Venus had been holding for the past few minutes. This had never happened before, and Don realised that he was close to discovering the real cause of Michelangelo's undying grudge.

"Gees, Don! Isn't it obvious? You did what I dreamed of doing for years! Sarah loved you! You even had a kid with her! You won, okay! That's what I wanted, and you took it from me!" Mike accused. His argument was rather jumbled and some parts didn't make sense, mostly because he was just popping the words out as soon as they bounced onto his tongue.

"So you think having Morpheus was fun? If I could relive my life, I wouldn't do it again! Not with the way everything turned out. Even if things had gone differently, neither of us would have been right for Sarah!"

"You don't know that! I might have done things differently!"

"And what about Morpheus? Would you want a kid like that?"

"So what? That's not the point! The point is that you got to have a kid with Sarah! That in itself is enough for me to envy you."

"Mike! Get this into your head! Don't envy me! Morpheus was a mistake!"

"Why? Because you have crap genes, or because he died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome?"

"I _smothered_ him!" Don confessed, too frustrated to care that he had allowed the entire truth to slip out. Michelangelo fell silent. Venus gasped. Both of them were shocked by what they had just heard.

"What?" Venus quietly asked out of disbelief.

"Morpheus didn't die from SIDS. I… I smothered him," Donatello shamefully admitted, his voice barely audible. Mike and Venus continued to stare at him, as if to allow the news to settle inside themselves. Donatello sighed and looked away, not being able to stand his family's shocked reaction. He remembered the incident well and clearly, though a small part of him wished that he could just repress those horrible memories. Yet even if he did try his best to forget what had happened, that still didn't change the fact that he had killed his own son.

_It was one moment that Donatello never wanted to relive. He recalled how Sarah had left the clan earlier that week. Everyone understood why; she had a life of her own to lead. The woman had only stayed for a few days, just to try and see if anything such as an immense feeling of devotion to her child developed, however that never occurred. Morpheus was a nightmare that everyone wanted relief from. Sarah fed him for those first few days, staying only as long as she was needed. Leonardo and Venus had traveled into the towns, grabbing a bucket of breast milk formula, getting prepared for Sarah's permanent absence._

_As soon as she knew that Morpheus could be cared for relatively well as far as food and care went, Sarah said her farewells to the turtles for the last time. It was official; Donatello was a single parent. Despite how much he hated the situation, Mike still offered some advice. So did Leo and Venus. Yet in the end a crying, gasping and hideous baby slowly ebbed away the patience of the other clan members. Although no one said anything, they all secretly didn't like to look at the child, as though his existence either annoyed or involuntarily disgusted them. _

_The child was such a burden. There was no doubt in Donatello's mind that if his son was born normally, then he would have been welcomed with open arms. Yet because of his serious mutations and deformities, it was all on their minds about how the child would turn out later in life, and how they could possibly care for Morpheus in his infant years. The presence of the baby affected the clan's playful and friendly atmosphere. Whenever Don approached someone, they fell silent and serious, as though the purple-wearing turtle didn't want to hear jokes. Eventually it was all too much for Donatello. _

_Knowing what needed to be done, Don took Morpheus and set up a solitary temporary camp that was only a three-minute walk from the lair. The clan's atmosphere lightened immediately. Out of sight truly was out of mind. Don had resigned to the fact that Morpheus was his burden, and therefore only he should have to view the baby's hideous body. Make no mistake, he loved the child regardless, however the problems associated with his future definitely plagued his mind. _

_It must have been mid-morning when Donatello had finally come to a conclusion about his son's fate, though in reality he didn't take much notice of the time. Alone in the woods with a crying baby, Don stared at the infant for what must have been hours. He watched with mental detachment as Morpheus hopelessly sucked at his milk bottle, the liquid sometimes spilling out of his deformed mouth entirely. What sort of future did this child really have? Don observed how his son would gasp for breath, as though his lungs weren't developed properly. He couldn't tell if he was in pain or not. Within the next few minutes, Donatello did what he ironically thought of back then as his most compassionate gesture; he put his son out of his misery. _

_Don timidly outstretched his hand. It shivered in the air, as though he couldn't believe what he was thinking of doing. Could he actually go through with it? Tears filled his eyes as his hand shakily made its final descent. Gentle at first, ironically not wanting to injure the baby, Don caressed his son's cheeks and chin for one last time. With a tear dripping onto Morpheus' forehead, Donatello wrapped his hand around his son's face, covering his mouth and nose. His grip remained. Donatello looked away, now with his tears streaming freely down his face. Some movement caused him to glance back. Morpheus' body flailed slightly, desperate to breathe once again. In the end his body was already too weak to put up much of a fight. Eyes wide, Donatello agonisingly watched the life slip away from his one and only son. The tears continued to drip down his face. It had been done. There was no turning back now. Months of worry about the pregnancy and how to get the child into his care had now gone to waste. Still shivering at what he had committed, Don slowly moved his fingers over Morpheus' eyelids in order to close them._

_The gravity of his crime had finally sunk in. What would he tell the others? He was already crying, so he knew that he wouldn't have to fake his emotions, not that he was without remorse at any rate. With one arm he cradled his limp and lifeless infant and headed towards the lair. Don would always remember everyone's expressions, turning from an instant smile upon seeing him, to confusion, then to fear when they spotted the unmoving corpse in his careful grip. The adults rushed over while the children hung back, not knowing what to do. Iris and Gabriel in particular didn't know what was happening and needed a special talk later that night. _

"_He's dead," Don whispered, almost choking on his own words. The others were silent. Shocked. _

"_How?" Venus asked, already close to crying herself. _

"_He was sleeping… I, I thought he was sleeping. Maybe, maybe it was Sudden Infant Death Syndrome?" Don croaked, making the up excuse right there on the spot. Michelangelo and Venus readily accepted his version of events, nodding sadly. Leonardo however stared at Don for a few moments. The clan leader's gaze quietly slipped down to the unmoving baby. Don's heart skipped a beat out of fear. Morpheus' skin was so thin that some of the post-mortem bruising was already coming through. Yet Leo's eyes connected with him again, and the turtle gave Donatello the tiniest of nods to show that he understood. From that day forth, Don wondered if Leo knew the whole truth; if his brother did approve or at least comprehend why he had taken such drastic actions. If he did know, then he never spoke a word about it. In fact, nobody ever did, as it swiftly became another one of those forbidden topics. _

_Donatello requested for the body to be burned. With the help of others, Morpheus' existence vanished within the next couple of minutes. No headstone or cross was made to mark the grave. No proof was left that Donatello had even had a son. Don constantly wondered if he had done the right thing. Could murder ever be the correct course of action? On one hand Morpheus was a risk to the entire clan. In order to feed him, someone would have to travel into town to collect the formula. Then there was the fact that he was a hybrid of a human and a turtle, meaning that if he were ever found out, then scientists would conduct immoral experiments, creating more unfortunate lives like Morpheus. The next problem was associated with all the deformities he had. How long was he going to live anyway? In the end, Don had solved the problem that he had ultimately caused, yet he always wondered if he shouldn't have committed the crime. What would Morpheus be like today if he was allowed to live? How far did one have to go in order to keep their private lives secret? Did the murder of one justify the means? Don never knew the answer, because he never knew the alternative._

"That's why you shouldn't envy me, Mike," Donatello quietly added, muttering his words and avoiding his judgmental stare. "I don't sleep well at night," he admitted. "You can swear at me, hit me, poke fun at me, even hate me. But whatever you do… don't envy me," Don whispered.

Michelangelo and Venus remained silent. Even though they were still just trying to comprehend the news, in a way they could understand Don's brash actions. He didn't necessarily do the right thing, though Don did save them all from a lot of trouble that Morpheus' life unfortunately brought. Not knowing what to say, Mike turned his back on Don and once again started to trek towards the campsite. Saying nothing, Venus and Don uncomfortably followed. Sensing and witnessing the tension between the two males, Venus wanted to see her husband's face once again now more than ever. They all missed Leo's leadership. In fact, if he hadn't been captured, the argument between the warring turtles might not have occurred at all.

A few minutes passed. All of a sudden Michelangelo stopped in his tracks. He faced his brother and instead of showing him a look of contempt, there was only forgiveness in his gaze. "I'm sorry," Mike said seriously.

"No, I should be the one who is sorry," Don answered modestly.

"Don't say that! …I admit that I've been a jerk… I had no idea… No idea what it has been like for you. I'm sorry," Mike justified his apology, his voice the most sincere Donatello had ever heard it to be.

"Thank you… Apology accepted," Don quietly said, appreciating the turtle's honesty. He had been yearning to hear those little words for years. "I'm sorry for saying those things about Diana."

"Yeah… I probably deserve it though," Mike muttered.

"Mikey… It makes sense, you and Diana. I was just… shocked," Venus admitted, excusing her behaviour. Mike gave her a weak smile.

"We live in such a weird world," Mike commented, a little smirk emerging.

"It seems we all have quite a bit to discuss once everyone's back together again," Venus said. Donatello and Michelangelo nodded in agreement. It was way past the time to release all the little secrets within the clan. From that argument alone, it was clear that everyone was confused with what was acceptable, right, immoral and wrong. The rules of their own society desperately needed to be defined if they were to live peacefully with one another in the future.

"Don… This may sound weird, but… if you're ever interested in Iris, then you have my blessing," Mike offered. He was right; it did sound weird, almost bordering on being rather sickening. Yet Don could see the orange-wearing turtle's reasoning behind it. Don had been completely forgiven, and now in order to gain honour and restore friendship, Mike had offered what he held dear the most; his daughter. Donatello blinked, rather dumbfounded at first, as he had never even held any scandalous thoughts about Iris. She was, after all, still a child. Yet Mike still was right – apart from Leonardo who was married, Donatello was the only unrelated male that could be safely partnered up with Iris. For the first time Don wondered if that was another reason that fueled Mike's hatred towards him. Either way, Don in the end felt humbled, though it would be many, many years until he would even possibly consider such an offer, and even then, it would ultimately be up to Iris with what she wanted to do.

"I appreciate that," Don finally answered, showing that he understood at least the intention behind Mike's words. With a little nod and a flicker of restored friendship, the turtles continued to move towards their destination. They were silent once again. Time and time alone was what was needed in order to digest everything that had happened that day so far.

_To be continued… _


	15. Independence

Chapter Fifteen: Independence. 

Leonardo hadn't slept at all, not after witnessing the atrocities that were performed on his daughter. The scientists had worked late into the night and had only left a few hours ago. Yet with daybreak almost upon them, Leo figured that the humans would return shortly, forgoing their opportunity to sleep in.

Staring at Diana's unconscious form in the cage beside his, Leonardo couldn't help but wonder how he was going to announce the news to her that her life was going to change drastically. In a few months, the thirteen-year-old was going to be a mother. Leonardo didn't really know how to handle the news, and therefore he certainly didn't have a clue on how Diana was going to deal with it either. What could he say to her? How would he treat Raphael now that he knew the entire truth?

At the same time his mind was cluttered with thoughts about the rest of his family. Being unconscious for the journey, Leonardo didn't have a good understanding of where he was being held captive. He wondered if a rescue plan was being formed and how long it would take to implement it. Little did he know that at that moment in time, the rest of his family was separated; Raphael was simply guessing where he was heading, Iris was following the horse tracks, while Mike, Don and Venus were still waiting at the rendezvous point.

Some small movements caught Leo's eye. Gabriel was stirring from his shallow sleep. Like him, the boy had stayed up until the scientists had left the building, though he did seem to gain a few hours sleep shortly afterwards. Yet while Leonardo found it difficult to contain his fits of rage and sickening amounts of worry, Gabriel had been the complete opposite and remained rather detached and composed. The boy was so silent and emotionless that Leo wondered if he was suffering from trauma.

The adult attempted to give his son a small reassuring smile, though Leo doubted he was fooling anybody. Gabriel didn't react. Leo watched in silence as the youngest turtle studied the bars of his cage. Timidly leaning forward from his sitting position, Gabriel inspected the hinges of his cage's door. With a curious finger, Gabriel pressed on one of the metal pins, rather astounded to discover that a part of the hinge could shake loose. Standing, Gabriel tried to tamper with another one of the hinges higher up, though that one didn't budge at all. In the end, the boy failed to break free, but Leonardo was impressed with him nevertheless. Although they were in a tough situation, Gabriel's mind remained focused; solely thinking and working out an escape route, unlike his father who was completely shattered. Leonardo smiled at his son, though this time he didn't have to fake his expression. The adult just simply admired the little turtle's determination and intelligence, coming up with ideas that he hadn't even thought about. Leo's smile widened – Gabriel was truly becoming a ninja.

Diana started to breathe heavier, causing Leo and Gabriel's attention to turn. She woke up gasping a little, her mouth completely dry and sore. The oxygen tube that was placed down her windpipe during her examination procedure had irritated the muscles in her throat. She let out a few dry coughs before slowly salivating her tongue once again. Diana had been unfortunate to experience similar circumstances in the past, so she instantly knew that she had either been examined or operated on while under anesthetic. "Dad?" she croaked, hoping that her father would shed some light on what had happened to her.

Leonardo tried his best to give her a warm smile, hoping that his expression would give her some reassurance. "Yes?"

"What did they do to me?" Diana shakily questioned. Leonardo's smile disappeared. A moment of silence passed, before the adult turtle looked away from his daughter. Tears filled Diana's eyes, just knowing from his body language that something awful must have happened. The girl bit her lip as her mind recalled a conversation she once held with Raphael. Her body shivered when she started to assume the worst. "Am I pregnant?" she questioned softly, her voice rattled with fear.

Leonardo gave his daughter a sad, sorrowful glance. "Yes," he answered simply.

Diana's chin quivered as she nodded her head in order to show that she understood. She looked away, attempting to compose herself, however it wasn't long till she broke down into a sobbing fit of tears. Leonardo moved closer towards her, just wanting to reach out and hold her in his arms. But the bars prevented any comforting physical contact. So he simply sat there and watched his daughter cry her little heart out until her eyes were swollen and red. It broke his heart to witness her in that condition, knowing that there was nothing he could do except vow revenge. "The father is Raphael," Leonardo quietly informed her. Diana continued to cry. "Why didn't you tell me that you two were dating?" Leo wondered, becoming quite emotional himself.

"I didn't want you to know!" Diana cried out. Her words were quickly followed by a sniffle.

"Why not?"

"Because I thought you'd freak out!" Diana sobbed hysterically. She didn't know how to feel. Violated? Ashamed? Worried? Or just plain embarrassed that her father wanted to discuss her sex life?

"…How long ago did it happen?" Leonardo inquired, trying to remain as calm as possible. He only wanted to understand the status of Diana and Raphael's relationship. The turtle couldn't help but wonder if the young couple had any long-term plans, or if they were going to stay together at all.

"That night when we got lost in the woods," Diana answered as she frantically wiped away some of the tears that were rolling down her cheeks.

"Do you love each other?" Leonardo continued to pry.

"I don't know! If I had known that I would fall pregnant, then I wouldn't have done it at all," Diana confessed, feeling that nagging pang of regret.

"Well… What did you expect to happen?" Leonardo asked, though his voice came across a lot harsher than what he had intended. He had mixed feelings about the matter. Yes, he was furious with the scientists. However he had to painfully admit that part of this mess was his own daughter's doing. Being so emotional at that point in time, Leo's focus and thoughts about the matter were scattered. He didn't know what to say to the girl; should he try and prepare her for what was to come in the near future, or should he deal with some of the issues that happened in the past?

"I'm sorry," Diana cried out, realising what she had said was stupid and naïve.

"Who are you saying sorry to?" Leonardo asked, hinting to the female that she had only disappointed herself.

"I'm sorry," Diana repeated in a whisper as a few new tears dripped down her face. To Leo it seemed that the girl only wanted forgiveness. He couldn't tell if her pleas were directed at him or towards her own conscience.

"I know it seems like it is, but this isn't the end of the world. Once we get out of here, everyone will help you through this," Leonardo calmly said. Diana sniffled once again before lifting her head to view her father. For a split second, Leonardo thought he saw a flicker of hope in her eyes, as though she had thought of a decent solution.

"…Maybe you and Mum can take care of the baby?" Diana suggested, her voice filled with optimism. Leonardo sighed, once he had thought over the situation for a split second.

"Diana… this child will be your responsibility. You can't expect us to do everything for you anymore. You're a young lady now…" Leonardo carefully said, not wanting to come across as being cold or strict.

"But, but I thought you said that you'd help me?" Diana was confused.

"I will help you, whether it'll be gathering food or offering advice. But in the end, you still have to do most of the work. Raphael too. He's not getting out of this either," Leonardo stated. He wanted to make his daughter understand that her actions did have consequences. Leo knew that she would be too high-strung to comprehend his reasoning, but he needed to lay down a few rules anyway.

"But that's not fair! The scientists were the ones that made me pregnant, weren't they?" Diana protested.

"Diana, the reason why they went ahead with the artificial insemination was because you had already… you know," Leonardo trailed off. He glanced at Gabriel, suddenly remembering that he was also in the room. For most of their conversation, the boy had minded his own business. Yet Leo still held off from saying certain things nonetheless.

"But that's my point! It's not my fault!" Diana continued to both argue and plead with her father.

"No, it's not entirely your fault. But the chances are that you would have fallen pregnant at a later date anyway," Leonardo explained what he had heard from the scientists. Diana stared at him. Her innocent presence that she had kept since she was a child had suddenly disappeared. Before him now was a young woman, worn down and without hope. She didn't understand why she had to look after her unwanted child, but Leo could tell that she had given up arguing against it.

"What if we don't escape from here? What then?" Diana fearfully asked.

"Don't think like that. Of course we'll escape. Ain't that right, Gabe?" Leonardo remained positive, hoping to raise Gabriel's spirits as well.

"You know, you shouldn't lie to your children like that. Then again, turtles have never been known to be good parents." Dr Yesmal entered the room, being closely followed by Dr Aquel. Leonardo growled upon seeing the man, and seethed once he heard what the arrogant scientist had to say. Judging the woman's expression, it seemed that Dr Aquel didn't appreciate her coworker's comment either.

"What are you doing here?" Leo hissed, not liking the fact that the man had heard some of their conversation.

"It's my job to be here. I'm a scientist; you're my specimen. I thought you would have been smart enough to know how it works by now," Yesmal belittled the turtle. Leonardo huffed out of annoyance. It was still reasonably early, and considering how late the scientists had finished the night before, Leo ignorantly thought that they would be a little later. Obviously he underestimated Dr Yesmal's desire to play God.

"What are you going to do to me?" Diana fearfully asked, her body shivering as she hugged her legs.

"I don't have much planned for today," Yesmal started. "Things will really get exciting for you once that egg of yours pops out. …Also, just between you and me, I wouldn't worry too much about the responsibility of raising a child. Once it's born… you'll barely see it," the man shamelessly and cruelly taunted.

"Yesmal!" Aquel said, her voice sounding rather appalled by his behaviour.

"Oh what now?" Dr Yesmal replied out of annoyance.

"Why are you going to take away the infant?" Dr Aquel asked in a controlled manner, not wanting her own personal emotions or thoughts about the topic to get in the way. The conversation she had the day before about the future of her career was still fresh in her memory.

"Well… why not?" Dr Yesmal answered with a sly smirk. His nonchalant expression only fueled Aquel's hatred of his ways.

"Gees you're thick! We don't know what their babies are like! We don't know their needs, what they eat, how they're cared for… By taking it away from the mother we instantly lose any data we could gain simply from observations." She didn't want to resort to arguing with him, but Aquel simply refused to stay silent. If she didn't say something, then who was?

"What type of data?" Dr Yesmal questioned, his voice rising in volume.

"You know, how the family interacts with each other. How the mother cares for it's young. Those sorts of things. We could severely damage their social hierarchy, if we haven't done so already," Dr Aquel continued to lecture him, though she had calmed down the tone of her voice considerably.

"Susan… this is really starting to get old," Yesmal threatened.

"I'm just using common sense here!" Dr Aquel shouted, quite frustrated.

"No, you're just shoving up roadblocks," the man accused.

"What roadblocks? What on earth is wrong with you?"

"Can't you see what I'm trying to achieve here? Can't you see that how doing things my way will result in sound scientific data, rather than your stupid airy-fairy observational crap?" Yesmal yelled. He watched as his female colleague bristled with fury.

"No. I guess I can't see that." Aquel's words were soft yet firm. She reluctantly knew what was coming next.

"Well, I suppose it doesn't matter what you envision anymore… You're fired." Although she had been expecting it, Yesmal's words numbed her entire body. She wanted to argue against his decision, but she also didn't want to continue working with him. Indecisive, Aquel stood still, her eyes sadly gazing across to the captured turtles. "You're fired! Get out!" Dr Yesmal hissed, wanting the woman to respond. Aquel gave him a look of pure hatred, before finally turning around and walking out of the makeshift lab. Sighing, she slowly closed the door behind her, thinking that she'd never see the turtles ever again.

Dr Aquel tried to keep strong. She didn't want to cry. Yet then again, despite all its flaws, she loved her job, and she knew it would take a long time for her life to resemble some form of normalcy once again. Numbly staring at the ground, she took two uncertain steps forward. She gasped and stumbled a little as she unknowingly bumped into someone. "Shhh!" Andrew Walker hushed, placing his index finger upon his lips, signaling for silence. Confused, she timidly looked down as the park warden gently took her hand in his. Without saying another word, he guided her away from the building. Aquel was too overwhelmed with everything that was happening to protest against Andrew's actions.

The two of them walked quickly, Andrew leading her all the way. It was only until they reached halfway down the pebbled path when Dr Aquel realised that the man was traveling towards his office. Andrew stopped at the door of the building and checked to see if anyone was sitting at the reception desk. Upon discovering that the place was empty, he gently led the scientist into his office and closed the door behind him. "What's with all the secrecy?" Dr Aquel asked. On one hand she was rather worried by Andrew's antics, but another part of her found it rather amusing.

"I just wanted to make sure the other scientist wasn't lurking around," Andrew Walker answered while gesturing towards the woman to take a seat. Aquel accepted his invitation before Andrew sat down as well.

"Dr Quease?"

"Yes, him," Andrew confirmed. Feeling slightly awkward, Dr Aquel sat silently in her seat, hoping that the man would eventually reveal why he had taken her to his office. "I overheard what happened to you… I'm sorry that you lost your job," Andrew offered his condolences.

"Yeah… Then again, it wasn't as though it came as a surprise," Aquel grumbled.

"Anyway, I was wondering if you'd like to help me instead. As of today, I've got a job position opening," Andrew said.

"As what?" Dr Aquel was curious.

"Well… as you probably know, this camp attracts a lot of film students and camera crews. Anyway, when they found out that these rare turtles were living in the woods, a lot of them have taken an interest and have asked me for permission to film them. Now, as you can imagine, I'm a bit worried about the turtles' well-being, so I've decided to turn this project into an official documentary," Andrew explained. As Dr Aquel stared at him, she noticed that his eyes sparkled with passion and sincerity. He wasn't in it for the money. He was in it for the wondrous pleasure of learning about these mysterious creatures.

"So you want me to help?" Aquel predicted her role within the study.

"Only if you want to, yes," Andrew admitted. "We need someone like you. Someone who can put together all the information that you've already gathered," he added. "I'm afraid you won't be paid as much, but as far as accommodation goes, you're welcome to stay here. Meals will also be supplied." Dr Aquel continued to listen to Andrew's invitation. Yet throughout the entire time he was speaking, all she could ponder about was how much the man seemed to know. Ever since she had met him, she and the other two scientists had thought that Mr Walker knew more than what he let on. He just had that way about him; an intriguing, all-knowing twinkle in his eye that never seemed to be surprised by all the wild the events that passed before it. "So what are your thoughts? Would you like tonight to think it over?" Andrew wondered.

"No, that won't be necessary," Aquel said.

"Oh… So does that mean that you won't be joining us?" Andrew asked, his tone of voice revealing how disappointed he was. He was so sure that Dr Aquel would take up the offer, and now he just felt foolish for even asking.

"No, I mean that I'd to help out!" Susan exclaimed as a large smile swept across her face.

"Really? That's great!"

"Just one question…"

"What is it?" Andrew wondered.

"Why all the secrecy? Why didn't you want either Dr Yesmal or Quease to overhear?"

Andrew Walker sighed and leaned forwards so he could rest his elbows on his desk. "Listen… Don't think that I don't know what is going on here. I know what Dr Yesmal's done. I also know that there's not much I can do about it," Andrew truthfully admitted.

"Why can't you stop him? You know he's breaching his contract, right?" Aquel questioned, almost interrogating the man for answers.

"Well you couldn't knock any sense into him. Why would I have any more luck than you? The problem is that it's our word against his. We can argue that he's captured the turtles unnecessarily and is therefore harming their species, while on the other hand he can rightfully argue that the ones he's caught are 'ill' and need to be treated. In the end, he's the one in charge of the study, and frankly there's not that much that we can do," Andrew sorrowfully explained.

"So why make a documentary?" Aquel wondered, now incredibly curious.

"You ask 'why', I say 'why not'?" Andrew said with a little smile. His response reminded the scientist of her ex-coworker, yet despite their similarities, she found herself grinning anyway. She knew this man, although truthful and up front, wasn't telling her the entire story, but she was willing to be part of his plan at any rate.

* * *

The silence was so harsh inside the renovated gym that Leonardo could hear his own heart thump in his chest. He couldn't tell exactly how much time had passed, but the turtle predicted that Dr Aquel had been fired at least an hour ago. Even though Leonardo hated all of the scientists, it was Aquel who he disliked the least out of the trio. If they were going to be studied no matter what, then he would have preferred to be observed under Dr Aquel's unobtrusive methods, rather than Yesmal's seemingly 'act first, think later' regime. But despite his feelings on the situation, although they had unintentionally disposed themselves of one enemy, there was something more fearful in allowing this beast of a man to take control of their captive lives. 

Three pairs of eyes anxiously gazed at the scientist, all wondering what he had planned. Dr Yesmal noticed their intense stares, grumped in response, before slouching in a nearby swivel chair. He had phoned Dr Quease a few minutes earlier only to find the white-haired man rather uninterested about coming into work. Rather disgruntled that he had to do everything himself, yet still not remorseful enough to rehire his female colleague, Dr Yesmal reluctantly started his experiments.

After a few minutes of preparation, Dr Yesmal turned to face the nervous turtles, proudly displaying a yellow liquid-filled syringe in his hand. Leonardo found he couldn't take his eyes off the grim, plastic object. "Let's play a little game, shall we?" Dr Yesmal sadistically teased. "The first one who tells me where the rest of your kind could be hiding, and how many of you there are in total, won't be injected with this," Yesmal announced, waving the syringe around in a threatening manner.

"Don't tell him! It's a trick!" Leonardo urgently told his two children.

"If you don't shut your mouth, then I might inject you first!" Dr Yesmal said, using a menacing tone of voice.

"What is it?" Diana fearfully asked, her eyes locked onto the needle-sharp object in the man's hand. Dr Yesmal gave her a wicked smile.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out," he teased. Diana shivered when she heard his words. In reality, the liquid was simply a concoction of chemicals that would eventually make them immune against their severe allergy to bee stings. Although the substance truly was going to help them in the long run, Dr Yesmal had indeed lied; he was planning on injecting the turtle that answered his questions first, before finally dealing with the other two. There was nothing horrible with what he was doing, but naturally he didn't want to pass up the opportunity to make the turtles cower in their cages.

"I know where they could be," a turtle spoke up.

"Gabriel! Don't!" Leonardo fearfully screamed at his son. Dr Yesmal ignored the loud mutant and focused all of his attention on the mysterious little boy.

"Well… Where are they?" the scientist encouraged the child to speak. Gabriel gave him a tiny smile in response. In the next instant, Dr Yesmal found himself gasping for breath. His vision darkened a few seconds later. Knees buckling, he heavily fell to the floor, staying motionless. Shocked at what he had witnessed, Leonardo scanned the area for answers. He found what he was looking for in Dr Yesmal's neck. A slim dart was lodged in his skin… the type that Iris trained with.

"There's one on the hill outside, aiming at you," Gabriel belatedly answered the unconscious scientist's question. Hearing his son's smug response, Leonardo stared out the open window, though he didn't see any of his family.

The door handle of the lab's entrance jiggled a little. Opening at what seemed to be an agonising speed, a single turtle boldly stepped into the room. Iris. None of the captured turtles could hide their sheer relief and joy upon seeing her cheerful freckled face. Leonardo continued to stare at the doorway, expecting to see Venus, Mike, Don or even Raphael to step through… but no one else came. There was only Iris. It finally dawned on Leo. Over the past seventeen years, one of the fastest and simplest rescue attempts made, wasn't achieved by an adult, but rather by Michelangelo's annoying and hyperactive illegitimate gremlin. Leonardo immediately felt ashamed for ever doubting the poor girl. He had always quietly believed that teaching the child ninjitsu wasn't much use, but at that particular moment, Leo was grateful that Iris had proven him wrong.

"Where's Dad?" Iris asked, obviously confused to only find two of her siblings and their father.

"They're not here. Haven't you seen anyone else?" Leo asked, now beginning to worry about the others. If they weren't with Iris, then what happened to them?

"No. I thought they were captured," Iris answered.

"Okay, we'll sort it out later," Leo said, having a sense of urgency in his voice. He pushed his worries towards the back of his mind, wanting to focus on escaping instead. Unfortunately Iris wasn't on the same wavelength.

"Then where are they?" Iris continued to ask questions. Leonardo groaned. All the positive thoughts about Iris had been vanquished from his mind, instead being replaced by his previous grievances about the turtle's flaws. All he wanted was for her to focus, but like always, she loved to talk too much.

"Iris, it doesn't matter at the moment. Now let us out before someone comes!" Leo demanded.

"But I was looking for Dad. I thought he'd be here," Iris said, obviously scared that she didn't know where her father was. The slightest of movements caught Leo's eye. One of Yesmal's fingers had twitched. Staring at the dart jutting out from the man's neck, Leonardo's eyes widened in fear when he noticed an important detail he had previously overlooked. Now he really regretted not putting more faith in Iris. She had used her practice darts, the ones that were considerably safe to fire while in training. Leonardo had never taught her how to prepare the more dangerous or hazardous projectiles, mainly because he felt she was too irresponsible for that level of knowledge. The solution that was drenched into the dart was only mild, meaning that the man would only be unconscious for a minute, two at most. Seeing Yesmal's fingers twitch, Leonardo feared the worst.

"Iris! The scientist is about to wake up!" Leo frantically said. Iris immediately looked at her fallen victim, only to find out that the adult spoke of the truth. "Get the keys!" Leo ordered, pointing to Yesmal's desk. Iris did what she was told, skittishly bounding to the other side of the room, snatching the shiny silver keys, before bolting back. The girl nervously fumbled with the small object as she stood in front of Leo's cage. "Rescue your sister first," Leo advised her. "Do you have any more darts?" Leo wondered, knowing that Iris was probably going to take a while. After all, she had never used a key in her life. The girl bit her lip and shook her head, causing Leo to assume that she had used all the others when she doing target practice the day before.

Diana anxiously stood at the door to her cage as Iris hurriedly tried to open it. Leonardo carefully watched Dr Yesmal. "Hurry!" he yelled when the man started to open his eyes. With a clang of metal, Diana's cage finally opened. The white-wearing turtle took the keys and immediately started to work on freeing Gabriel. Iris gasped in terror when she saw Dr Yesmal struggling to stand up. Most of the sleeping potion had worn off, but thankfully it would take another minute for him to feel completely normal. The man staggered on his feet, trying to quickly come up with an action plan in his hazy mind. Wobbling as he walked, Dr Yesmal clumsily aimed for a loaded tranquilizer dart gun that was mounted on a nearby wall. "Get out of here!" Leonardo ordered once Gabriel was out of his cage. Dr Yesmal picked up the weapon. It was too late to save Leonardo as well. The man haphazardly aimed at one of the escapees.

Diana, Iris and Gabriel ran for the door. A shot was fired, but because the scientist was still feeling some of the symptoms from the sedative, he missed completely. However his vision was getting better by the second. Stumbling to the doorway, Yesmal tried to shoot again, though by the time he got there, the three turtles had just disappeared into the woods.

* * *

Raphael carefully treaded through the forest, making sure that he didn't leave any tracks. He had no idea as to whether the hunters were still searching for him. Raph knew he was making slow progress, but at least he felt comfort in the fact that he was now positive that the direction he was heading in was indeed correct. Unlike Iris who had started traveling as soon as the morning sun's rays had touched the sky, Raphael had decided to wait until it had completely risen. That way he could make use of the vast amount of light, especially when he didn't have much of an idea about where he was located. He didn't follow the direct and most obvious route, which was to follow the hoof marks of the horses like Iris did. Instead he made assumptions on which way to walk; making informed guesses of what was east and west by staring at a few of the shadows. His tactic paid off when he finally came across some familiar natural landmarks. From there on the journey was easy, though the closer he walked towards the camp, the more nervous he became. 

The sound of hurrying footsteps caused Raphael to halt his movement. Completely alert, the teenager moved around the base of a thick tree trunk, hoping to hide from whomever was running through the woods. Little by little, Raph carefully poked his head around, but only far enough so that one eye could witness the mysterious pack of unknown travelers. He was pleasantly surprised to find the rest of his siblings.

The three escaping turtles jumped in shock when Raphael suddenly revealed himself from behind a large tree. Yet once they recognised who it was, all of them grinned with relief to see a familiar face. "I thought you were captured?" Raph asked Diana, slightly confused but ecstatic nonetheless.

"I was!" Diana said. "So was Gabe," she informed him further.

"But…" Raphael was confused.

"Iris saved us."

"Iris?" Raphael raised an eye-ridge, not knowing if he should believe them or not. He stared at the short yellow-wearing turtle, who gave him a large, childish grin in response. Raph grunted, sounding both impressed and amused. Looking over at the other two turtles, it didn't take long for Raphael to notice how red and irritated Diana's eyes looked. She had been crying recently. "Are you okay?" he questioned her.

Diana wondered if she should tell him what had happened – that his child would emerge into the world six months from now. But she wasn't prepared. How would she break the news to him? How would he react? Deciding against telling him at that particular moment, she simply faked a smile and said that she was fine.

"So what do we do now? Dad's still back there," Gabriel reported, awaiting further instructions.

"Dad didn't escape?" Raph questioned, becoming concerned.

"We didn't have time to open his cage," Diana sadly said.

"But what about Mum, Uncle Mikey and Don?" Raphael asked.

"No one knows where they are. I don't think they were captured at all," Diana said.

"They wouldn't be back at the lair, would they?" Gabriel wondered.

"They weren't there when I went past," Iris said.

"They're probably at the emergency meeting spot," Raph thought out loud. "Do you know if anyone will be out looking for you?" Raph asked both Diana and Gabriel.

"Probably," Diana whispered, shivering at the thought of being captured again.

Raphael sighed. He stared at the three younger turtles. All of them were dependent on him, awaiting instructions. Although he had been trained for this, Raph was still uncertain and scared about taking up the role as leader. Yet as he had once asked his stepfather, he definitely felt it was time to be treated like an adult. Now was his chance to prove that he was capable of such a task. He just hoped that he didn't fail. "Okay. Let's just stick together and try to find Mum and the others first. Try not to leave any tracks either," Raphael gave his first orders as a leader. This wasn't a game. This was the real thing. Raph was frightened and uncertain about having so much responsibility, but for some unknown reason, he felt like he had been craving the power since the day he was born.

_To be continued…_


	16. Undying Devotion

Chapter Sixteen: Undying Devotion. 

"We're almost there," Michelangelo softly reassured his nervous followers. The party of three immediately slowed their pace, stepping lightly on the forest's lush undergrowth. Being this close to the human camp, Don, Venus and Mike instinctually knew that it would be too dangerous to keep to the man-made walking tracks, so they had to improvise their own way through the spindly trees and clusters of ferns. Donatello's entire body flinched when he walked straight into a massive cobweb, but he managed to remain quiet, even after Mike had given him a little sadistic smirk.

When the sunburned glint of metal guttering and the organised construction of wooden logs came into view, the turtle became incredibly wary. The entire camp was situated in the middle of a clearing, almost completely encircled by the woods – the only inconsistency was the meandering trail of the access road. Stealthily the turtles skirted the edges of the camp and stopped when they had found what they were looking for. On one hand they were expecting it, and yet on the other, they were not.

One large building, which was advertised as a gym from the outside, was heavily guarded by armed men. It was early in the afternoon by the time the trio had arrived at the camp. Yet while they had traveled as fast as they could, little did they know that hours earlier, Iris had already performed a rescue attempt. Once Dr Yesmal was feeling better after being knocked out for a few minutes, the scientists had immediately called for reinforcements.

"I'm just guessing… but I reckon everyone's trapped in there…" Mike said, gesturing towards the gymnasium. Venus nodded in agreement while Don quickly rolled his eyes at the orange turtle's obvious deduction.

"So what should we do?" Venus questioned.

"We could take them on," Mike boasted his confidence.

"I don't think so…" Don started. His eyes were glued to his newfound enemies. "Look more closely."

"At what?" Mike wondered.

"At what they're holding."

"Tranquils? So what else is new? If we use the other nearby buildings as cover, we could sneak up on them and take them out quickly," Mike suggested.

"It's not the tranquils I'm worried about. They're packing guns as well. I don't know about you, but if I saw a huge mutant turtle running towards me at full speed… I wouldn't fire a slow-working tranquilizer. I'd go for something that can be administered faster… like a bullet," Donatello reasoned.

"They wouldn't kill us, would they?" Venus timidly asked.

"You know, I did overhear the scientists say that if we're found in public areas… then they're entitled to kill," Mike shivered at the thought, remembering the previous conversations he had held.

"Look at how much ground is between us and them anyway. …I don't want to risk it. Not until nightfall anyway," Donatello wisely said.

"So all we can do is wait?" Venus sounded disappointed.

"No… I've got an idea," Mike said. Curious, Donatello and Venus followed the orange-wearing turtle as he swiftly skirted further around the camp, obviously searching for a particular building. They all stopped suddenly when they saw a bearded man exit the reception area before starting to stroll down a nearby dirt pathway. Afraid that they could be spotted, Don and Venus ducked and concealed themselves on the ground, as though it was second nature to them. But Mike remained standing.

"Mike! Get down!" Don urged him with a harsh whisper. Mike still refused to move. In fact, he did the unthinkable; he waved to the pacing man. "Mike!" Don growled - partly terrified, partly in a state of disbelief. Donatello and Venus watched in horror as the bearded man fastened his pace, instantly running towards them. It was obvious that they had been seen. Panicking, both Don and Venus sprinted back a few feet, this time quickly finding themselves a new hiding place behind a couple of thick tree trunks. Mike continued to keep his ground, completely undeterred.

The man slowed down when he was close enough to Michelangelo. "You shouldn't be here!" Andrew hissed, disapproving of the mutant reptile's presence.

"You know I had to come," was Mike's simple reply.

Andrew sighed in annoyance, knowing that he couldn't convince the turtle to leave. "You've come for the rest of your family, then?" Andrew rhetorically questioned.

"Of course," Mike answered simply.

"I was afraid of that," Andrew muttered. "After your little stint this morning, Dr Yesmal hasn't been the nicest of chaps. Little cry-baby; he went overboard and hired as many goons as he could, just to make sure that he couldn't get hurt again!" the man commented, rolling his eyes as he spoke about his enemy.

"What little stint?" Mike wondered, feeling like he had missed something.

"You know! When you rescued a few turtles!" Andrew exclaimed. Michelangelo simply stared at him.

"We did?"

"You didn't?" Andrew became confused as well.

"…That wasn't us," Mike said slowly.

"Well, Yesmal only caught three of you guys. I can't say which ones, because I don't know myself… but one of you rescued two of them," Andrew informed the confused turtle.

"It must have been Leo… or my nephew. No one else would have been capable of a rescue attempt," Mike tried to figure the mystery out.

"Well, whoever did it, they're in trouble now. Yesmal sent some horsemen after them about an hour ago," the man said grimly. Michelangelo fell silent. Whoever was sent free… Mike hoped that they were alright, especially now that they were being hunted. Letting the news sink in, Mike didn't say anything for the next couple of moments. Suddenly he felt the urge to include the rest of his family into the conversation.

"Hey guys? I'd like you to meet a friend of mine," Mike announced, looking behind him and staring at no object in particular. The sounds of nervous footwork could be heard. Two heads cautiously poked around from their hiding places; one from behind a tree, then the other from around a large rock. Don and Venus glanced at each other for reassurance before finally revealing themselves completely. The pair timidly approached the human, as if they were unsure whether to fight, flee or simply stay still. "Andrew? This is Donatello and Venus. Don? Venus? This is Andrew Walker. He's the park warden," Mike introduced everyone. Andrew, Don and Venus stayed silent.

"How long have you known each other?" Venus finally asked, barely raising her voice above a whisper.

"A few years now," Mike answered.

"You mean to say that you've had a human friend all this time… and you never told us?" Don exclaimed, not knowing if he should be alarmed or angry.

"I knew that everyone would freak out. Like it is some big deal or something," Mike casually said.

"Well of course it's a big deal!" Don exclaimed, disagreeing with the turtle's level of secrecy.

"How did you two meet?" Venus addressed the human, not wanting to be rude by excluding him from the conversation.

"One night I accidentally left some junk food out after an outdoor staff party. When I remembered what I had done, I went over to one of the picnic benches only to find this oversized mutant turtle gorging himself on the Oreos," Andrew humorously commented, gesturing towards Michelangelo. Mike chuckled in response, feeling quite sheepish for being caught doing something so stupid. "Anyway, we got chatting, and left on good terms," Andrew continued his story. "He returned a few nights later. He said his visit was 'out of curiosity'. Anyway, I made the unfortunate mistake of offering him some food… Basically from then on, he never left!"

"Oh come on! I wasn't that bad!" Mike defended himself.

"You keep clearing out my fridge!" Andrew joshed.

Everything seemed so unusual to Donatello and Venus. They had human friends before, but it had been such a long time ago. Seeing Andrew and Mike interact as friendly as they did only made Don and Venus realise how isolated from the world they truly were. A human and a turtle joking alongside each other used to be a common image back in the days when April and Casey were alive, but now the moment seemed incredibly surreal. It was obvious that Andrew and Mike had a strong bond, and Don and Venus could only question as to how they were so oblivious to it throughout the past couple of years.

"I completely forgot…" Donatello whispered to himself, following his previous train of thought. His words were loud enough for Venus to hear.

"Forgot what?" she quietly asked him, unbeknownst to Mike and Andrew.

"Sarah's supposed to be coming today. I can't believe I'd forget something like that…" Don murmured to the female turtle.

"We've had a lot on our minds lately," Venus spoke with honesty, not wanting him to be ashamed of not remembering such an important event.

"But what are we going to say to her? About what has happened?" Don worried.

"Worry about it when the time comes. In the meantime, we've got other issues to sort out," Venus advised him before tuning back to the conversation between the orange-wearing turtle and the park warden. Little did they know that they weren't the only ones trying to get involved in the discussion.

Dr Aquel had always been a curious woman. She had to be in order to study animal behaviour and psychological illnesses. Aquel was also one to follow the rules, unless it was obvious that something needed to be rebelled against. But when the female scientist saw Andrew Walker suddenly dash out into the woods for seemingly no apparent reason, Dr Aquel couldn't help but wonder about his antics.

She followed him; staying as far away as she could, just in case Andrew suddenly turned around. Dr Aquel lost sight of him for a few moments, forcing her to walk all the way to the edge of the clearing and the start of the forest. She still didn't see him at first, however she did manage to overhear what seemed to be a rather serious conversation.

"You can't attack anyone. They'll shoot you without question if you do," Dr Aquel recognised Andrew's voice.

"We know," a male spoke. It sounded oddly familiar to the eavesdropping scientist.

"I honestly don't know what you can do to get around it though," Andrew said.

"We'll think of something. We always do."

"Yeah, well, you better keep out of sight. And keep out of trouble while you're at it as well," the park warden warned the mysterious visitors. Dr Aquel couldn't stand it any longer. She had to find out who Andrew was speaking to. Feeling bold, she rushed forwards, past the thick of the trees, and gasped at the sight before her. Mike, Don and Venus froze in surprise. Andrew was shocked by her sudden appearance as well.

"What is going on here?" Dr Aquel bewilderedly asked no one in particular. Caught in the act, Andrew didn't know what to say in response. Seeing the moment of shock and awkwardness, the turtles instinctually used those few seconds to stealthily retreat, disappearing completely from sight. Dr Aquel and Andrew Walker continued to stare at each other, not knowing what to say. "So this is what you've been up to? So this is why you've been so secretive?" Aquel stated loudly. She looked hurt; deceived. The woman didn't wait for a response. Instead, she quickly turned around and strode away, back towards the camp.

"Susan! Wait up!" Andrew called out. He started running, hoping to catch up to her. He grabbed the scientist by the arm and stared her in the eyes, hoping to speak seriously with her.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I think you already know why," was Andrew's reply.

"Well it just goes to show that you don't trust me!" Dr Aquel retorted. She suddenly yanked her arm out of his grasp before continuing to make her way to her cabin. Andrew walked after her.

"It wasn't about you. I, I made a promise to them…" Andrew admitted.

"What promise?" Aquel demanded to know.

"Why are you so angry with me?" Andrew was curious. The woman stopped walking and turned to stare him directly in the face once more.

"Because you tried to make my job harder. And when I was fired from that job… you still wouldn't let me in on it, even though I'm your new associate!"

"Susan…" Andrew sighed. "…Can't you understand why I kept them a secret?"

The slam of a car door grabbed both of their attentions. It was a small, blue vehicle, and as it was a common type, Dr Aquel figured it was a rental car. Sure enough, two tourists were snatching their heavy bags from the trunk, before slowly lugging them towards their newly acquired cabin. It was a man and a woman… and one of them looked strikingly familiar. "I don't believe it," Dr Aquel muttered. Before Andrew could say anything else, Aquel had moved off at full speed, aiming for the person she recognised as Sarah Watson.

* * *

"Don't slack off guys! Let's keep up the pace!" Raphael urged his little followers. The turtle was extremely nervous. As the new leader, he had already made one compromising decision, and that alone had caused him to feel the horrible weight of responsibility. By his lonely choice, the apprehensive group of four had returned to the lair only for a brief period of time, only to gather their weapons in order to arm themselves against any future attacks. Raphael knew it was a risky decision. They could have simply walked straight to the allocated rendezvous point in the hopes of finding one of the adults, however they wouldn't be effective in battle should the occasion arise. Yet by going back to the lair to retrieve their weapons, they were at a higher risk of finding trouble, especially when their previous captors now knew where they lived. 

"Hurry it up!" Raphael harshly whispered to his siblings. He looked around with concern as the two nine-year-olds struggled to keep up with his speed. Now that they had their weapons, Raph wanted to place as much distance between themselves and the lair as possible. Iris and Gabriel puffed heavily, moving their short, stubby legs as fast as they could. They all knew the danger they were in and all of them were equally as scared, however the younger turtles of the group couldn't physically tread any faster, only proving to frustrate their leader even further. Raphael's patience was slowly being tested.

The teenager's body tensed and stiffened when the ominous sound of a snort was heard in the distance. He immediately hushed the group, gesturing for them to stand still. They all listened. Nothing could be heard, but _something_ could be sensed. An abrupt snort was easily distinguished from the ordinary forest sounds. Raph didn't know if it would be classified as a brief, soft whinny, but either way, any noise from a horse caused his sturdy body to shiver uncontrollably.

Then it started. The pounding of hooves. To the turtles, it was déjà vu. They had no choice but to partake in the hunters' sadistic game and relive their terrifying past. Yet Raph knew what the outcome would be if they decided to run. He didn't want to abandon his family like that again. So instead, without withdrawing them completely, he stubbornly gripped the handles both sai in preparation and carefully examined the approaching riders. There were five of them altogether; each one galloping at a fast pace. From what Raphael could tell, they were the same people they had encountered before. Yet there was one major difference with the hunters, and that was their arsenal.

Any cockiness Raphael had briefly experienced had been quickly flushed through his body. Now he was just simply horrified. Unlike their previous encounter, the riders weren't carrying nets on the rumps of their horses. But what really scared Raph was that they weren't even holding tranquilizer dart guns. Yet they did have a firearm – an intimidating shotgun. It finally dawned on Raph. They weren't going to be captured this time… instead they were to be exterminated.

It was natural to have a fear of guns. Afterall, one had fatally wounded Raphael's true father. He faced yet another tough decision; fight or run? Raph didn't really think much, as when he saw one of the men raise their gun, the turtle's legs just started moving on their own, jumping and slipping through the forest's undergrowth. His younger siblings had the same idea.

Raphael's ears thumped when the force of a shot was heard. Terrified, he quickly checked his family members and tried to remain calm when he noted that everyone was still running. The man had missed. Thankfully shotguns were rather slow to load. If they kept running, hopefully dodging the fragmenting bullets, Raph figured they could soon gain some ground when the ammunition would run out.

The frightening boom was heard again, but this time a chilling scream followed immediately after. Diana was no longer running by Raph's side. Fearing the worst, he swiveled around and viewed a gruesome sight. The female turtle continued to bellow in pain. She desperately clutched at her wounded thigh. Her hands were covered in blood. The red liquid was even smeared across the lower part of her plastron and down all of her leg. Raph wasn't sure where exactly the wound was, but what he did know was that Diana was bleeding heavily, and the flow wasn't going to stop unless she had immediate medical attention.

The horsemen didn't stop their gallop. They even grinned with pleasure when they witnessed a turtle fall to the ground. The men were hired by Yesmal, however that didn't mean that they were working for him. Since the scientist had paid them so poorly for their previous efforts, the hunters had sought a new boss. Leeroy, a man who had helped Bonesteel with selling deceased animals on the black market, had taken an interest in whoever could land their hands on an endangered ninja turtle. Paying at a very high price, the hunters and Leeroy had struck a deal, unbeknownst to Dr Yesmal. When the scientist had phoned them up, begging for their assistance once again in capturing the escaped turtles, the horsemen didn't decline. Dr Yesmal had provided them all with a reason as to why they were in the national park in the first place. From there, they planned to hunt and kill as many turtles as possible. They would then illegally deliver the corpses to Leeroy, while telling Dr Yesmal that they simply didn't see any turtles at all. If it worked, it would be an almost ingenious plan – it would take weeks, months, possibly years for the scientists to discover that the turtles are missing. Even then, it would be suspected that the reptiles are simply 'hiding'. While the ninjas prided themselves with how well they could disappear from sight, the downside was that no one would know if they were truly dead.

By now Raph, Gabe and Iris had stopped running. They couldn't leave their injured sister behind. If they did, then it would mean certain death for her. The hunters were definitely planning on finishing Diana off. This time they had no choice but to fight. They only hoped that they weren't all shot in the process. The riders kept galloping forwards, getting closer and closer to Diana's bleeding body. Her shrieks of agony only fueled Raph's rage.

Raphael knew he was in danger of entering a fierce tantrum, one that he couldn't control. He could feel the rage taking over his body; controlling his actions. Yanking both sai out of his belt completely this time, Raph was about to make a kamikaze move – just wanting to run forward and beat the crap out of whoever opposed him, no matter the consequences. Yet before he had the chance to do something stupid, Gabriel caught his eye.

Raph anxiously watched as the little boy slipped a shobo onto one of his hands. It was obvious that Gabe was thinking of fighting as well. Raph frowned, knowing it was insane; Gabriel was a close range fighter, and the chances of him dying were extraordinarily high. Glancing at Iris, he could see that she had the right idea. The girl had jumped back a few feet and was hurriedly loading her blowgun. The rage that had once filled Raph's body had gone, as he now knew that he had to be smart. Gabriel and Iris were relying on him to lead, and if he didn't, then they'd have no direction.

Raphael held his hand out, grabbing Gabriel as he ran forwards. "Don't attack!" Raph ordered. Gabriel gave him a surprised look. It was obvious that the boy wanted to fight. "Help Diana instead. Iris and I will fend them off," Raph instructed. Gabe frowned. He was an excellent warrior, which caused him to wonder why he had just been sidelined. Yet he also trusted the older ninja's judgment, and without argument, he gave a nod and did what he was told. Iris gave Raph a tense look as they all braced themselves for the enemy's onslaught.

The horses were starting to slow, mainly so that the humans could aim more accurately with their guns. Iris sedated the first man who was ready to shoot. Raph knew that he would only be knocked out for a few minutes, but that was enough time for him. As Iris reloaded, Raphael made a mad dash for the front line, screaming furiously in the process. The horses became spooked. He continued to run, singling out a particular person – the one that had shot his sister. The man wailed as his horse reared up at the sight of the fast approaching turtle. Desperate, the hunter fired his gun, though he missed completely, shooting it straight into the ground instead. That only scared his horse further. The man gritted his teeth as the large animal whinnied and cantered in uncontrollable patterns. Using the chaos to his advantage, Raphael attacked.

Growling the entire time, Raphael held a sai up high. The silver blade shined in the dappled sunlight for an instant before being drenched in blood. Raph slashed into the man's thigh, making sure he dug one of the prongs in as hard as he could. The hunter screamed in agony, almost fainting off his horse from the amount of pain and shock he was suffering. Raphael figured he had avenged Diana; the human who had shot her, now had a severely injured leg as well. The horse snorted in panic and slapped its hooves around, almost stepping on Raph while doing so, before finally moving away from the turtle, allowing its rider some relief as well.

The other riders had their weapons raised. They didn't shoot earlier because either their horse was bucking or circling in fright, or they were fearful of missing and shooting their injured friend instead. With a simple breath, Iris knocked out another hunter with one of her darts. Two were unconscious, one was in agony. Only two were left, and Raph had his eye on them. The red-wearing turtle swooped in for an attack, using the same leg-striking tactics as he did before, but the horse was nervous and flighty, bounding away before he could get reasonably close.

"Let's get out of here!" The chased horseman fearfully suggested to the only other healthy hunter.

"What about the turtle?" The man knew they were in an extremely dangerous situation, but he didn't want their efforts to go to waste.

"We'll come back later! It'll be dead then!" With that said, the man cowardly galloped off.

"Shit!" the last hunter exclaimed. He stared at his fallen comrades. The two that were unconscious were slumped over in their saddles, heads resting against the horses' manes. From his point of view, the hunter didn't know if they were dead or not. His other friend was panting heavily, forcefully blinking his eyes as though that would somehow help him cope with the pain in his leg. Lastly he glanced at Raphael… and that turtle didn't want to be messed with. Panicking that he'd be hurt next, he grabbed the reigns of his injured friend's horse, before galloping out of the area with his colleague tagging alongside.

Raphael scowled, appalled at the morals of the hunters. They had left their two unconscious friends behind. Growling, Raphael gave their horses a slap on the rump, coercing them to break into a gallop, traveling in the same direction of the cowards.

"Raph!" Gabriel called to his brother. There was a sense of urgency in the boy's voice. Raphael didn't need to be summoned twice.

"How is she?" Raph hurriedly asked. He didn't need to know the answer – he knew it was bad. In an instant he was by Diana's side, clutching her hand, touching her forehead, doing anything to try and fix the situation.

"I can't stop the bleeding," Gabriel despaired. The boy moved away a little so Raph could have full access to Diana's wound. Gabe's black bandanna had been tied around Diana's thigh in an attempt to compress the injury. Yet just as the boy had said, blood still seemed to seep through the makeshift bandage, flow across the leg, before finally dripping onto the dirt into a pool of sticky mud. Staring at the amount of blood she had lost, Raph was just thankful that Diana was still conscious, even though she was becoming quite delirious with the amount of pain. Raphael could see Diana's body shiver uncontrollably. She couldn't keep still. Raph could tell that during the brief battle, Gabe had managed to calm Diana down considerably, but the girl was still trying to clutch at her leg as though she wanted to rip out the bullet herself.

Raphael removed his bandanna, and just like Gabriel had done, he used it as a bandage, hoping to slow the amount of blood being lost even more. Yet they all knew it wouldn't be enough. "What are we going to do?" Gabriel was worried. Iris simply kept her distance, knowing that she'd only be a hindrance.

"I have to take her back…" Raphael regrettably admitted.

"Back where?" Gabriel questioned.

"…Back to the camp," Raph muttered softly, understanding the consequences. Hearing his words, Diana slapped her hand upon his arm, squeezing it for his attention.

"No!" Diana managed to utter.

"I'm sorry," Raph whispered.

"No!" Diana protested, saying it louder this time.

"There's gotta be another way," Gabe said.

"There isn't."

"Please Raph!" Diana pleaded, squeezing his arm once more while hissing through her teeth.

"I have to," Raph sadly acknowledged.

"No you don't! I'm fine!" Diana weakly argued.

"Diana. You'll die if I don't take you back there!" Raphael debated firmly.

"I'd rather die…" Diana whispered. A tear rolled down her cheek while her body shivered. "I feel cold…" she started to complain. Worried, Raphael immediately started to rub her upper arms with his hands in a bid to try and keep her warm.

"I'm taking you back," Raph decided. In a simple movement Raphael scooped his sister up off the ground. The white-wearing turtle flimsily fought against his grip but she soon found it futile. Raph understood what the consequences would be if he surrendered to the scientists. But what could he do? Diana would die without their help, and while the female turtle wasn't against that morbid option in her pain-induced state of mind, Raphael wasn't going to let that happen. He didn't want to lose her.

"I'll come too," Gabriel announced.

"No. I want you to find Mum, Mike and Don," Raph instructed.

"But… what if you need help?" the boy persisted with his request. He was only concerned about the well being of his sister.

"Listen. I don't want you two to be captured, okay? Now I want you and Iris to find the others. I'll take care of Diana; don't you worry. But I need you to take care of Iris for me. Those hunters said that they were going to return," Raphael ordered.

"But what if we get shot as well?"

"I can take care of myself!" Iris pouted, offended by Raph's comment.

"You won't. I trust you two," Raphael answered Gabriel's question, choosing to ignore Iris' childish outburst. Gabe nodded in understanding.

Cradling Diana in his arms, Raphael carefully headed back in the direction of the campsite. Flustered and weak, Diana flailed her limbs once again, pushing her hands against his plastron while flimsily kicking her legs although they did little more than a wiggle. "No Raph!" Diana protested. Raphael's grip only tightened in response. "Please!" Diana whimpered. Raph continued to walk, though he hated every step he took. "Don't do this…" Diana sobbed through the pain. Raphael stopped; he had to get his bearings straight. He sighed heavily as his arms started to sting under the weight of his sister, causing him to doubt whether he'd make the distance required.

"Okay," Raph finally relented. "I'm taking you back home." Remembering that he was only a few minutes from the lair, Raphael changed course. He jogged this time, with Diana being jostled about in his arms. She hissed and convulsed in pain a few times, but her actions only made her brother speed up.

Diana groaned as her visibility muted and blurred. Her head throbbed constantly, making it difficult to keep her eyes open. Being so weary, she was unclear about what happened next. The rough movement of being carried in Raph's arms had stopped, and the gritty texture of dirt could now be felt underneath her horizontal body. Raph left for a moment but came back, mentioning something about Donatello's medical supplies. She groaned once again, though her own voice seemed rather distant. She furrowed her eye-ridges when she felt a few droplets spill onto her forehead. Diana didn't even know that Raphael was crying.

Raph's hands shook, causing the contents of the first aid kit that was in his grip to rattle slightly. The bandages, forceps, syringes, fire blankets were all there… but that didn't mean that Raph knew what to do. He stared helplessly at the items before glancing at his sister's wound. A feeling of despair quickly followed. He had a basic idea of what was needed. The wound needed to be cleaned; the bleeding had to be stopped; a fresh bandage had to applied; and Diana's fluids had to be kept up. Yet Raph's nerves had finally gotten the better of him. He was so stressed that he couldn't think clearly or logically. Raphael never thought about learning the exact details of first aid, let alone surgical operations. All of the adults in the clan were well informed about the subject, causing Raph to believe that he'd never be in such a situation as there would always be someone else to do the job for him.

"I don't know!" Raph uttered, letting a tear drip freely down his face. He noticed that Diana was becoming less and less responsive. Raph panicked. "No! Stay awake! Stay with me!" He rapidly tapped her cheek in a desperate attempt at keeping her alert. Diana groaned once again. Raph wrapped the first aid kit's bandage above the two bandannas they had already tied on in the hopes of conserving Diana's blood even further. But the dying turtle needed more than that. Raph understood that if something drastic didn't happen as far as medical attention went, then he'd lose Diana forever. "I'm sorry," Raph whispered, his entire body shaking with fear and despair. "I have to take you back to the camp. There's no other way… I tried," Raph explained, though he said it as if he was trying to convince himself that it was the right thing to do, and not to simply inform his sister. Diana, barely conscious, didn't have the strength to protest this time.

But how was he going to get there? If he walked, Diana would be dead by the time he reached the camp. Frantic for ideas, Raphael wildly looked around the lair. The familiar glint of metal caught his eye. At last things were starting to look better. The Hog stood quietly just inside the alcove he had nominated as his bedroom. Originally owned by his true father, Raphael had always wanted to ride it by himself but never had the chance. The family had always feared that the engine would create too much noise, so it wasn't allowed to be ridden. Instead, Donatello simply started it up occasionally, only to check and keep the battery alive over the years. Since it wasn't used as a regular form of transport, Leonardo had declared that it would only be driven in emergency situations. Its silent presence kept everyone calm, knowing that the option existed. Yet while the motorcycle was utterly useless most of the time, it did serve one other purpose. It was a monument to Raphael's deceased father. If the machine wasn't so sentimental, it would have been discarded years ago due the impracticalities it presented. Naturally, having Diana's dying body lying before him, Raphael was certainly grateful that the Hog wasn't thrown out.

Propping her body up against the handlebars, Raphael sat behind her and revved up the engine. It took a few tries, but it finally started to hum, causing Raph to admire the power the machine held. In that instant, Raph forgot about his worries, even if it was for a brief period of time. He felt like a man. As he kicked off, sending a flurry of leaves, Raphael wondered if his father ever felt this way. There was something so carefree in riding the vehicle. There was a masculine sense of power behind it. Yet seeing his sister perilously bounce, lean and jerk in her position in front of him, Raphael knew that he didn't have the time to enjoy himself. He had a life or death mission on his hands.

* * *

"So what are they doing?" Mike whispered to Donatello. The three adult turtles were still in the vicinity of the camp. Although it was risky to stay in the area, they decided to keep an eye on things to see if there was a moment of weakness in the security surrounding the building where Leo was being held captive. Yet at that particular point of time their focus had shifted to the number of film students playing with a video camera out in the middle of the small field. 

"They're just testing the camera. That's all," Don murmured. They worried for most of the day, especially when Dr Aquel had discovered they had a friendship with the park warden. Though Andrew returned to speak with them a few hours later, explaining how she was simply surprised, and that she intended no harm. He also informed them that Sarah Watson had agreed to help out with the documentary that was to be filmed. Apparently, as Andrew explained, Dr Aquel approached Sarah and accused her of being part of the 'turtle conspiracy' as well. Feeling embarrassed by the scientists' outburst, Andrew invited both Aquel and Sarah back to his office, hoping to apologise to the visitor. Yet the more he spoke about his plans for a documentary, the more Sarah revealed about her knowledge of the turtles. Soon Andrew made the connection and recalled how Mike often talked about how he used to have human friends back in New York or London. In the end, all three of them agreed to keep their friendly interactions a secret, while Sarah offered to help out during her time in Hawaii.

"Do you think this documentary is a good idea?" Venus voiced her concerns.

"Education is a good way to calm humanity's fears. Maybe if they understood us better, they wouldn't hunt us so much," Donatello answered thoughtfully. Though his voice echoed that same concern Venus had. None of them liked the idea of being exposed, even if it was out of the best intentions.

"Well… you know what they say. Any publicity is good publicity," Mike shrugged. Bored, the turtles continued to watch the film students fiddle around with their expensive camera's zoom options. "I just wish they had more professional camera men," Mike rolled his eyes,.

"Mikey? How much did you say about Sarah? How much does Andrew know about her?" Donatello warily asked.

"I just told him that I had a human friend who lived in London. That's all. I didn't mention anything about what happened with her and us. I may be stupid sometimes, but I'm not _that_ stupid," Mike quelled his brother's fears. Donatello sighed with relief knowing that Michelangelo didn't spill any information about Morpheus' existence.

"Shh!" Venus suddenly hushed the two male turtles. They fell silent, straining their ears to hear anything. Someone was yelling something. Whoever it was, they sounded desperate. A swift, bulky figure emerged from the woods, running into the open field. Accidentally leaving the camera on, the film students unknowingly captured what would soon be one of the world's most controversial and emotionally driven pieces of footage. The light may have been rather dim because the sun was setting quickly, but Don, Mike and Venus knew who it was.

"No…" Venus uttered, disbelieving her eyes.

"Yesmal!" Raphael cried out. Diana was still bundled up in his arms; her blood had transferred onto his plastron. "Yesmal!" he emotionally called out again. Tears were in his eyes. His legs burned from running. From the start he knew this was a one-way journey, though that didn't mean he wanted the clan's best form of transport to be confiscated. Instead, about a hundred meters away, he hid the motorcycle behind a large, mossy rock formation, deciding to run and carry Diana the rest of the way. He figured that should the opportunity arise, he could use the bike as an escape route later on.

Curious, the scientist quickly emerged, wanting to see what the commotion was all about. The armed personnel had their tranquilizers aimed at Raphael. The turtle stood still. "Please. Please help her," Raph whispered his request. The guards loaded their barrels ready for discharge when Raph suddenly moved. The turtle bent down and placed his sister on the ground. By now she had lost an enormous amount of blood. Her breathing was shallow and her body wouldn't stop shivering. Sweat lined her every muscle.

Dr Yesmal signaled to his hired security guards to not shoot. Raphael stepped back as the scientist stepped forward to inspect Diana's body. "She was shot by those hunters you sent after us," Raphael tried his best to not get angry. There was a sense of irony in what he had said, though Raph wasn't laughing. Neither was Yesmal. Afterall, despite his own personal grievances about the overgrown reptiles, it was in the end his job to conserve them, not make them extinct. In any case, a dead turtle never looked good in front of his Government employers. Raphael wasn't sure, as his vision had blurred slightly from the build up of tears, but Yesmal did seem to hold a genuine expression of concern and sadness.

"I better fix her up then," Yesmal said softly. Although the man displayed a moment of care and concern, it quickly disappeared, and soon his mind remembered the vendetta he held against the male turtle. "Capture him," Yesmal sharply ordered. Raph knew it was coming. There was no point in running or fighting this time. In under a minute he was unconscious. Numbed, Mike, Don and Venus had witnessed the entire scene from afar, along with the film crew. Trying to gather their thoughts, the three adult turtles remained silent for a few minutes, finally realising that they no longer had to save just one turtle, but also Diana and Raph.

_To be continued…_


	17. Past Troubles

Chapter Seventeen: Past Troubles.

The warmth of the sun had faded away as darkness engulfed Kauai. Gabriel gazed at the sky, hoping for a source of light, but his wishes were in vain. Thick tropical storm clouds seemed to cover the atmosphere. The turtle could only just make out the different textures and colours; the moon barely shimmering amongst the masses of cloud.

"Gabriel?" A soft little voice broke the stillness of the dark night.

"Hmm?" Gabe hummed, still preoccupied.

"I'm really hungry," Iris softly admitted. Gabriel tried his best to look at his half-sister. She was sitting on the ground, hugging her legs. They were tired from traveling. Once Raphael had left in order to save Diana, both of them slowly made their way to the clan's designated rendezvous location. Yet while there were traces that someone had been there, it was obvious that they weren't around any more. The two nine-year-olds brainstormed for alternate destinations, trying to speculate where the adults would have went. The lair had already been checked; they would have bumped into them if the adults decided to return home. The only other plausible, non-obscure location was back around the campsite, where Gabriel had guessed that the others might be planning a rescue attempt.

So they turned around and walked straight back where they came. Their little feet were getting sore and tired, and upon nightfall, they started to lose their sense of direction. Iris had led most of the way, due to her knowing the land the best, however even she couldn't tell what natural landmarks they had passed while traveling in the dark.

"When was the last time you ate?" Gabriel inquired.

"Early this morning. Before I rescued you," Iris said.

"Same here," Gabriel sighed. "Do you roughly know where we are?" the boy asked after pausing for a moment.

"Kind of."

"Well, I know that some of the coconut and sugar plantations are fairly huge. I bet if we head in that general direction, then we're bound to come across one," Gabriel thought out a logical plan.

"I s'pose," Iris sighed, groggily standing up. It was obvious that she was rather weary from walking all the time.

Iris led Gabriel slowly through the woods, though it was rather painstaking due to the lack of light. The boy's eyeridges furrowed when the female turtle suddenly stopped. "What's the matter?" he whispered, wondering if she had sensed something unusual.

"I have a feeling we're near the campsite," Iris answered.

"You sure?" Gabriel was skeptical.

"I think so." The boy could almost hear Iris' large grin.

The pair froze when some whispers could be heard floating along the breeze. A beam of light scanned across the forest trees, originating from a flashlight. "This was a waste of time!" a man grumbled. Gabriel swiftly placed a hand on Iris' shoulder, pushing her to crouch down alongside him. It was the hunters again. The two turtles thought that they had returned to find Diana's body, however that wasn't the case. The horsemen knew that the reptile they had shot earlier was now being operated on; Dr Yesmal had already phoned them in order to convey his severe displeasure about what had happened. The scientist wasn't angry because the turtles were at risk – he didn't care either way. What he was furious about was the fact that he could potentially lose his job, since he was only allowed to capture, not hunt the turtles. So the hunters' actions indirectly reflected back on Dr Yesmal's character and job performance, since the scientist was the one who hired them in the first place. Now fired, the four remaining horsemen didn't have an alibi as to why they were allowed to ride around in a national park area. Yet they still wanted the illegal reward money from Leeroy. So they had to resort to conducting their affairs in the dark.

"Shh!" one hushed. "I thought I heard something," he explained quickly. One beam of light suddenly turned into four; all of the horse riders were scanning the immediate area. Fearful, Gabriel and Iris kept as low to the ground as possible, just hoping that their shells would be confused as rocks. A beam from a flashlight swept just above them. Both turtles held their breath. The sudden grunt of a horse cracked through the heavy tension in the air, almost causing Iris to squeal in fright. But they both stayed silent.

"Turn the lights off," one man ordered. His request was obeyed within the next second. "Turn on your night vision goggles," he ordered.

"You sure you heard something?"

"Just do it," he grumped. Now Gabriel was really scared. He remembered playing with Donatello's pair of night vision goggles, and how effective they were. His heart thumped faster. Being able to see more clearly, the enemy had the advantage. The turtles didn't dare to move.

"Someone try the heat seeker," Gabriel fearfully heard a man whisper. It would be over now. They would be found. The two turtles did have a low blood temperature, however, because they were so terrified, their little hearts would show up as bright, pounding red pulses on the hunters' pieces of equipment.

"Run!" Gabriel advised his half-sister with a harsh whisper. They leapt from their hiding spot and bolted through the darkness. A shot was fired out of surprise and panic, but the bullet simply lodged itself into a tree trunk instead.

"After them!" A hunter urgently announced. Each wearing their night vision goggles, they dug their heels into their horses, forcing them into an uncoordinated canter. While the horses could make out some shapes and nearby forms, the two turtles knew they were fortunate that the large animals found it unnerving to run through the darkness. However, Gabriel and Iris found it difficult to move about as well.

The two turtles sought refuge behind the trunk of a large, ancient tree. They gasped when another shot was fired. Pieces of bark whipped past their faces. Once again the bullet had hit the tree. They could hear the sound of a shotgun reloading; the chilling clicks of the bullets being slid into place. Hooves thudded against the slightly moist earth, noisily trying to close the gap between the hunters and their prey. Iris frantically started to load her blowgun. Her aim would be greatly compromised because of the lack of light, but she hoped the sound of the horses would give her a good estimate of where to shoot.

Luck was on the children's side. The clouds became light and wispy, causing the moon to shine a frail light through the forest. It wasn't much, but it was more than the turtles needed. The surrounding clouds were still thick with mist, so they had to make the most of the next minute or two. Iris started off; playfully rolling away from the trunk of the tree. A shot was fired, but the man was too slow. Like she had done the previous time, she blew a dart into her attacker. Now they only had to worry about three of the men.

With the moon etching the outline of the men, Iris fled when another gun was raised. She tried to seek shelter back at the tree where she had hidden before, but a bullet scooted along her path. Panicking, Iris clumsily stepped back, instinctually turning to run in the opposite direction. Another shot was fired just behind her. They were right on her trail. While one man had to reload, the other two coerced their horses to dash forwards after the frightened female turtle.

A shot flew past her right side as she ran. Iris couldn't find anywhere to hide. The trees were skinny, the tall ferns wouldn't provide any protection, and there were no large rock formations nearby. Yet even if she did manage to hide behind a large solid object, the men would just continue to approach and shoot her at point blank range. Iris couldn't stop running. She didn't even have the time to fire off another dart. Climbing a tree would make her a simple target. Iris was out of options.

She thought she saw Gabriel in her peripheral vision. A bullet passed right through his body. She jolted in horror for a second, but then she realised that her half-brother had cleverly done one of his Shinobi illusions. His real body suddenly appeared a few meters away from the mirage. The trick spooked the men; all three of them scared when the boy rushed towards them. Gabriel was going to fight. Equipped with his shobo, he closed the distance and grabbed onto one of the men's legs. Muscles tightening, using his upper body strength, he swiftly climbed up in order to sit behind the rider. The man was too slow to react. His two friends were shouting with worry and surprise, alerting him to the danger that perched behind him. Without warning and with perfect balance, Gabriel placed his hands onto the rump of the horse. He transferred his weight, leaning back, so he could lift both legs in the air; his arms being his only means for support. Gabriel was lucky that the horse had stopped moving back when he had initially climbed on.

Iris looked on as the boy wrapped his legs around the man's neck, forcing him to one side. In one smooth movement, the man fell out of the saddle; Gabe releasing his grip at just the right time so as not to fall with him. The boy jostled forwards and took hold of the reigns. He gave the horse a light tap with his heels, ordering it to move. By now the remaining two men had snapped out of their shocked trance. With their shotguns loaded and ready, they didn't want to shoot the turtle directly just in case they hit the horse instead. So they fired right in front of the cantering animal's face. The horse reared up in surprise, throwing Gabriel of its back. The two men galloped forwards, wanting to quickly finish the troublesome turtle off. But Gabriel was already on the move.

When one man was close enough, Gabriel whipped in front of the horse's path. He kicked the animal's left kneecap, pressed his shobo into a particular spot in its chest, whacked place near its temple, before finally finishing his move by sticking his thumb on what he hoped was a pressure point on the neck. The rider didn't know what had happened. He kicked his horse, hoping it might trample the turtle, but there was no response. Iris' eyes widened when she saw what Gabriel had done. The horse was frozen stiff; its joints locked and temporarily paralysed.

It was the first time that Iris felt scared around Gabriel. Just how much ninjitsu did that boy really know? Iris had always thought that while their talents were in different areas, the two of them were on par with their abilities. But now Iris realised that Gabriel was further ahead than she had originally thought. Much further ahead. She looked at him fight. He was confident, and while she knew he was frightened as well, he definitely didn't show it. She wished she could act like that; to load her weapon without shaking; to be a true ninja.

Yet Iris knew she should have expected this. She knew that his talents weren't undeserved. Since he was a child, enormous pressures were placed onto him. Leonardo, while he had Raphael, was ecstatic that he could have a blood-related son of his own. Since Raph started to stray from the strict rules and training of ninjitsu, and since Diana wasn't the best fighter either, Leo wanted nothing more than to pass down his knowledge of ninjitsu to Gabriel. Venus also had her own dreams about passing on Chung I's Shinobi teachings. Once again, Gabriel was the perfect candidate.

Donatello had also placed some pressure on the boy. After the death of Morpheus, Don realised how much he yearned to share and speak about science to the younger generation. While he could teach Raphael and Diana some things, Gabriel at the time was the right age to start learning. In the end, three adults had placed their faith in him to be the one who would follow in their footsteps. With so much to do and with so many idealised hopes and dreams to live up to, Gabriel was hardly ever seen playing games with his siblings. He was always practicing, studying, or spending time with Donatello.

Iris knew she shouldn't have been surprised with how well Gabriel had handled the hunters. Watching him fight only made her want to be a better ninja. Gaining courage from her half-brother, she blew a dart into the man sitting atop his frozen horse before he could cause any harm. Iris and Gabriel's gaze met briefly, both sensing each other's feelings of gratitude. From that moment, Iris had the desire to spar against Gabriel again. Though not in the next few years. Instead, she wanted to train harder, be the best she could be, then test herself against what she considered was the ultimate ninja student. She smiled; loving the motivation.

Iris' body tensed again. The battle was still far from over. Suddenly she got the feeling that there was someone else; as though new people had joined the fight. Eyes only barely making out the shapes in the dark - since the heavy-laden clouds started to spill across the moon – Iris could see that the man who had been pushed off his horse by Gabriel earlier was now looking for a turtle to shoot. As soon as she saw him clearly, the man was knocked cold. A bo had slammed across his face. There was still one horse and rider left standing. Iris and Gabriel watched as a chi blast knocked him clear off his horse, before being whacked unconscious by a tonfa.

"Dad!" Iris called out excitedly. The girl bolted towards her father's open arms, leaping into a giant hug.

"Thank goodness you're okay," Mike breathed a sigh of relief as he held his daughter. Meanwhile Venus hugged her son for the first time in what seemed like weeks.

"Gabe? Are you alright? You're not hurt or anything, are you?" Venus questioned.

"I'm fine," Gabriel answered. The boy looked over towards Donatello, finding his uncle standing beside the frozen horse. The adult seemed impressed.

"How did you know where the pressure points were?" the purple-wearing turtle wondered, pointing towards the large animal.

"I just guessed," the boy shrugged.

"…Good guess," Don said. The adult noticed that the two men that Iris had darted were starting to wake up. Moving quickly, he gave both of them a punch to the head, hoping for them to stay unconscious.

"So what happened? Were you captured?" Venus began to question her son, hoping that the little turtle would be able to fill them in.

"Dad, Diana and I were caught," Gabe answered.

"Who rescued you? Raph?" Venus was curious.

"Iris."

"Really?" Venus was surprised.

"You serious?" Don found himself asking.

"No way! You rescued them!" Michelangelo exclaimed in disbelief, lifting his daughter excitedly off the ground. Iris gave her father a proud smile.

"She did!" the boy confirmed. "Except we weren't able to rescue Dad in time," he added sadly.

"We found Raph in the woods!" Iris told the next part of the story.

"But those guys on the horses came after us. But I don't think they were working for Dr Yesmal anymore…" Gabriel trailed off.

"They shot at us!" Iris whined.

"They shot Diana…" Gabriel softly told his mother the news.

"I know…" she admitted. "We've been spying on the campsite since midday. We saw Raph carry Diana back to the lab…" Venus sadly reminisced.

"Is Diana okay?" Gabriel wondered.

"We're not sure. We…" Venus was getting emotional. "We didn't see anyone take her body away. They've both been captured though." Gabriel could tell that those words were hard for his mother to say.

"I'm hungry!" Iris loudly announced to her father. Mike chuckled.

"Yeah? I know of a place where we can get some food," Michelangelo told his daughter.

Donatello rolled his eyes, having a fair idea of where that place might be. "Well, if we're going to head in that direction, then we might as well turn these guys over to the proper authorities," Donatello suggested. After a quick inspection, Donatello yanked on the paralysed horse's right ear, allowing the poor beast to move once again. The other two adults agreed with Donatello and helped him to place two bodies on each horse.

"How did you find us?" Gabriel queried while the adults started to organise their trip back to the campsite.

"We ran towards the sound of the gun shots!" Mike said with a grin, knowing how silly it seemed. Donatello and Michelangelo grabbed the reigns of the horses that were carrying the men. Venus on the other hand was to lead the remaining two horses which held no riders. "Okay. Let's go and see what Andrew can do for us," Mike said before setting off.

* * *

The tiniest knock against the glass window stirred Sarah from her sleep. She kept her eyes closed, assuming it was just a one-off creak from the unknown cabin. Yet the noise repeated itself. Just a tiny thud. Sarah knew something wasn't right when the knocking turned into a rhythmic pattern. Careful not to wake her husband, Sarah slipped out of her bed and put on her dressing gown. She inspected the window, noticing it was covered in light droplets.

Sarah had a feeling of what the noises were. She put on some slippers before opening the door to her cabin. "Sarah!" she heard her name being whispered. As she had expected, it was a turtle. Not wanting any trouble from her husband, Sarah stepped completely outside into the scattered drizzling rain, closing the door behind her.

Seeing that nobody unwanted was about, the turtles revealed themselves to her completely. The whole family was there, except for the ones that were currently being held captive. "Sorry to wake you like this. I didn't know how else we could meet again," Donatello apologised.

"That's okay. I understand," Sarah said. A few seconds went by, causing both Sarah and Don to feel awkward. They hadn't exactly left on good terms during her last visit. "Where's Raph, Diana and Leo?" Sarah wondered.

"They were the ones captured," Mike informed her.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Sarah said, hoping she didn't hurt any of their feelings by bringing the topic up.

"Andrew said you were going to be involved with this documentary thing," Mike changed the topic.

"Yeah, I am. They're thinking of setting up these camouflaged lookouts, so if you see any of them around, or any cameras, then don't freak out or anything. They're part of this project," Sarah advised them.

"Thanks for telling us," Don smiled.

"No problem," Sarah replied. The awkward tension returned once again. Sarah felt as though she had been away too long. The friendship she had experienced with the turtle family seemed old and stale. Having Morpheus with Donatello also made her feel incredibly unwelcome, even though she knew the turtles would never judge her. When she had originally emailed Donatello saying that she would like to meet them all again, she thought that things could go back to the way they were. But now that she was staying in Hawaii, Sarah realised that the past would always be painfully remembered. "So how's the family? Are you guys coping alright?" she inquired, genuinely caring about her reptilian friends.

"We're coping as best we could," Mike sighed.

"I just hope they're all safe," Venus softly admitted, eyes staring at the ground. She didn't want to tell Sarah what had happened with Diana. Venus didn't want her worry even though the incident was on all of their minds.

"So what has been happening in your world?" Mike wondered.

"Nothing much. Been working. I think I told you in my emails that I got married," Sarah summarised.

"What's he like?" Don asked. He hoped his question wasn't too bold. He just wanted to make sure she was happy.

"Brett? He's good. He works in a large firm back in London," Sarah said simply.

"That's good… As long as you're happy," Don said his words with sincerity.

"I am happy," Sarah softly admitted. If the conversation between Sarah and Donatello had happened a few days ago, Michelangelo would have been annoyed with the fact that they were only conversing with each other and not with the entire family. Though now that he knew the entire truth, he felt he should allow Donatello the time to settle his problems with the human. It was obvious that they both had unresolved issues.

"So… uh," Don stuttered, not knowing if he should voice his next question. "Are you… planning on having any kids?" Don was simply curious. He hoped that he hadn't affected any of Sarah's choices due to having a bad experience with him.

"We might," she answered simply. Although she still felt awkward talking about children with Donatello, Sarah knew that he was only being curious. "I'm getting too old though. The doctors say that at my age, there's a higher risk of Downs Syndrome," Sarah remained honest.

"Oh…" Don didn't know why he was disappointed. He had just hoped that Sarah would lead a normal life once she had left him all those years ago.

"But we'll try," Sarah said.

"How long are you planning on staying in Kauai, Sarah?" Venus questioned.

"A couple of days." She stared at the two children. "How are you guys going? I remember when you were just little eggs," Sarah addressed the children with a smile.

"I hardly think they were little," Venus muttered. Sarah found herself laughing.

"Anyway, I guess you guys don't know me that well," Sarah said sadly.

"I remember you," Gabriel admitted.

"Really?"

"So do I!" Iris piped up. Sarah smiled at the family once again. She took in a deep breath and shivered. She tried rubbing her arms for warmth, but she only succeeded in squishing the light droplets of rain further into her nightgown. "I better go," Sarah said sadly. "I hope you'll be able to free Raph, Diana and Leo soon."

"I do too," Venus softly worded.

"It was nice meeting you guys again," Sarah's words were laced with sincerity.

"Same here," Don whispered.

"I wish you all the best off luck," Sarah started to depart, opening the door to her cabin.

"Goodbye Sarah," Donatello said before she slipped into the room completely. The door closed softly, leaving Don to dwell over the mundane conversation they had just shared. Slowly the turtles returned to the woods. Even though it was the very early hours of the morning, there was still the danger of being seen around the campsite.

It was midnight when they had approached Andrew with the unconscious forms of the hunters. When the park warden was busy contacting the police, Mike sneakily rummaged through his refrigerator in order to find some food for the children. The family had been planning on talking to Sarah earlier, but the police had taken their time gathering statements from Andrew. The turtles didn't know what story the man had made up, but whatever he had said, it obviously went down well as all of the men were taken into custody; that was, once they had recovered from their head injuries in hospital.

"Did you find that awkward?" Mike asked Don as they walked away from the cabins.

"Yeah. I keep getting the feeling that I'll never see her again," Don sighed.

"Sometimes it's for the best. It seems both of you have moved on," Venus offered her thoughts on the subject.

"Yeah," Don murmured. But had he really moved on? Sarah had, but he felt as if he was still clinging onto the past. The turtle sighed. As mundane and as awkward as the conversation was, Don was glad that he had spoken with her. He got to say goodbye this time…

* * *

The night was a long one. Logically speaking, it contained the same amount of hours as any other night, but time seemed to stretch on at an agonising speed. Every second was torturous.

Diana was placed inside her cage just before dawn. Leonardo knew he should be thankful that Dr Yesmal had worked all night trying to save his daughter. However the scientist had gone about it the evilest of ways. He was busy for the first hour, attempting to stabilise Diana's condition. She had to be placed on life support for most of the night. Yet when Dr Yesmal could afford the little distraction, he would use those moments to taunt the red-wearing turtle he now held captive.

"Remember; I'm only doing this because it's my job. If it was solely my decision, I'd let her die in front of you," Leonardo recalled the scientist saying at one stage during the night. "You little freak! Do you have any idea how many operations I went through? Do you know how much it cost in order to realign all those tendons you tore in my hand? I hope you rot in here," the threats continued. He continued his taunts for hours. Thankfully when he had done all he could for Diana, he finally went to bed, leaving the two male turtles in peace.

Raphael couldn't sleep. He watched the rise and fall of his half-sister's chest, just fearing that it could stop at any moment. It seemed the girl was somewhat lucky. She wasn't hit with the full bullet. Rather the projectile seemed to have ricocheted off a nearby tree, causing only a fragment to bury itself into Diana's thigh. It meant there was less internal damage, however it had still managed to sever a main artery. Raphael and Leonardo, both being related to the girl, were forced to give blood – Dr Yesmal had made sure to cause Raph some pain while he took his sample. Once some blood had returned to her drained body, it was only a matter of time before her stitched up and bandaged wound healed. They were told that she'd be able to walk normally.

Also during the surgery, since Diana was already unconscious, Dr Yesmal decided to check up on her developing egg, just to make sure it hadn't been destroyed. The scientist reveled in Raphael's shocked expression. "You didn't know!" Dr Yesmal whooped cruelly. "Hope you like your mother-in-law… Oh wait! You already do, 'cause she's also your mum!" the man teased. During those many hours of constant verbal torture, Raphael never said a word. Dr Yesmal had wondered if he had broken his spirits, however the man had hoped for some sort of reaction. But Raph's mind was somewhere else; too worried about Diana to be concerned about Dr Yesmal's childish games.

"I'm glad you didn't respond to him," Leonardo spoke up, breaking the silence. Raphael didn't even realise that he was still awake.

"I knew that was what he wanted," Raph murmured, still staring at Diana.

"I'm sorry that you had to hear the news from him… I thought Diana would have told you," Leonardo said softly. Raphael sighed and for the first time in hours, he removed his gaze from Diana. He stared at the dried blood on his plastron instead.

"Do you know if it's a girl or a boy?"

"No. You won't be able to find that out until it's born," Leonardo explained. Raphael remained silent for a few minutes.

"So… Are you angry with me?" he dared to ask.

"I'm angry with a lot of things at the moment," Leonardo admitted.

"Is one of those things me?" Raph reworded.

"I'm angry at the situation; yes," Leo's words came across as being rather stern.

"I'm sorry," Raph whispered.

"She's only thirteen, Raph."

"I know. I, I was stupid," Raph muttered. "But I love her," he whispered, staring directly into Leonardo's eyes, showing him that he meant what he said.

Leonardo sighed. "I spoke with Diana before… I don't think she wants to raise this baby."

"Why not?" Raph was concerned.

"She's scared Raph. She's really scared," Leo whispered. His daughter had gone through so much within the week. It pained him to know that he didn't prevent any of it. Another lengthy silence fell between them. "Raph? How do you feel about this child?" Leo queried.

"I want to help raise it," Raphael spoke truthfully. "I'm not going to let Diana cope with everything by herself. I guess I just want the child to have a father…" he whispered the last part, but Leo managed to hear it. The blue-wearing turtle was slightly concerned with how his adopted son had worded his last sentence.

"…Do you feel that you grew up without a father?" Leonardo asked. It was true; Raph never knew his real father. However Leo had tried his best to always be there for the boy. Thinking of his deceased family member, Leo suddenly realised that through Diana's child, Raph's bloodline would be intermixed with his, carrying on his last legacy.

"It's not that," Raph started. "It's just… I always wonder what he was like. I don't want my kid to wonder; I want my kid to _know_," he explained.

"What sort of things would you like to know about your father?" Leonardo questioned. Raphael knew that this was a rare opportunity to have. Usually, apart from Donatello, the others would avoid the topic, usually because it brought up bad memories. Raph figured that since they were going to be spending a lot of time together in captivity, Leo probably thought that he might as well discuss some things.

"It's the sort of things you can't ask," Raph found he had difficulty in expressing what he had to say. "It's more about the experiences I've missed out on. I wanna know what I would have done with him," Raph tried his best to explain what was on his mind. Leonardo paused. Raphael knew he was thinking about something.

"Your father would have taught you how to ride that damn Hog at the age of ten. He would have sneaked you into movie cinemas. He would have watched football matches with you on TV. You would have become pedantic about your sai, and he would have trained you in how to annoy me to no end!" Leonardo summarised. Raphael couldn't help but chuckle.

"Really?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Leo grinned. Raphael chuckled again.

"Anything else?" Raph wondered, his sullen mood becoming lighter. He stopped smiling when Leonardo suddenly turned serious once more.

"…Diana might not have ever been born," Leo said, though he was saying it more to himself than to Raph. The teenager stayed silent knowing that what Leo had said was true.

"…Did Mum really love my father?" Raphael finally asked. The question had bugged him for years.

"…I honestly don't know," Leo answered softly.

"I'm, I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For asking," Raph said.

"Master Splinter once told me that every question deserves to be asked… unless it's a stupid one," Leo gave Raph a small smile.

"I thought the only stupid question was the one unasked?" Raph was confused.

"Yeah, but you didn't have to raise Mikey as a kid!" Leo joked. Raphael laughed. He knew the adult was trying to raise his mood. Moments like this were rare. Personally he wished that he could have these types of conversations more often with Leonardo.

"I guess that's another person I wished I could have known…" Raphael trailed off once all the fun had calmed down.

"I wish you known him too," Leo said. The turtle sighed and moved into a different sitting position in his cage. "But I guess we shouldn't live in the past, otherwise the present will never be appreciated," Leo theorised.

"Guess so," Raph mumbled.

"Afterall, you're going to have a child of your own to take care of soon," Leonardo mentioned with a serious tone.

"I guess so…" Raph whispered. He looked back at Diana's body, watching as she breathed steadily in and out. Leonardo was right; Raph didn't need to ponder over the many puzzles of the past, not when the future held too many problems of its own.

_To be continued… _


	18. Humans and Animals

Chapter Eighteen: Humans and Animals.

A few days had passed since Raphael had sacrificed his own freedom in order to save Diana. The turtles that hadn't been caught all felt compelled to watch the campsite, just hoping that a moment of opportunity would arise. But the security remained tight and the risks were forever present. So they lingered endlessly at the edge of the forest, just barely keeping out of sight of the campsite's vacationing occupants. The only reason one of them would leave was to retrieve food and water.

This time it was Donatello's turn to fetch the necessary supplies for what was remaining of the clan. He had traveled far; all the way back to his crop plantations to gather some food, then to a nearby freshwater pond to fill up a couple of large bottles. He was on his way back when he spotted an oddly shaped boulder. Don cautiously stepped closer, only to find that it wasn't a rock at all. Instead it was a small-sized rectangular, fully enclosed shelter. The walls had been dappled in various shades of green and brown paint, while some leaves and moss had been draped across the top. Donatello raised an eye-ridge. He recalled how Sarah had told him that some camouflaged observational lookouts were going to be set up. But honestly, who were they trying to fool?

Donatello stood still for a couple of moments. While he would have liked to continue his journey back towards his family, he couldn't get rid of the thought that it might be Sarah watching him from that little cubicle. The turtle debated whether he should speak to her again, but he concluded that it couldn't hurt to say hello.

Placing the food and water to one side, Don walked towards the hidden entrance of the structure; the occupant would have definitely spotted him by now. He hesitated when he reached the door, just wondering what would happen if it were someone that he didn't know on the other side. In the end, he knew that the observers would never hurt him, no matter who was watching and recording his every move. Being daring, Donatello creaked open the little wooden door. Looking inside, he suddenly felt stupid and foolish. It wasn't Sarah. There was a shade of fear in their eyes as they stared cautiously at the turtle in the doorway. Donatello didn't move, knowing that this time he had been too curious for his own good. The more the two stared at each other, the more the human grew used to being within a close proximity to the reptile.

"Are you going to come in?" Dr Aquel timidly wondered, her voice wavering even though she was trying her best not to be scared of the intelligent beast.

"I, I'm sorry. I thought…" Don trailed off, feeling incredibly awkward.

"You thought what?" The female scientist inquired. Donatello shifted uncomfortably. He knew this woman. He knew her incredibly well. Despite their obvious differences, they both had one striking similarity – the two of them were rather curious. Dr Aquel obviously wanted to learn more about him, and in turn Don had a few questions of his own that he wanted answers to. He froze in his spot, quite undecided for a few seconds. Maybe it was time that they finally chatted. Ever so slowly, Don stepped inside and sat right on the end of the bench that was attached to the wall of the camouflaged shelter. Although she was the one who had insisted that he entered, Dr Aquel shifted away from him, leaving between them as much space as possible.

It was cramped inside the shelter. Apart from the bench, there was only a video camera and a backpack filled with supplies. There was a small, rectangular opening in the wall opposite the bench, obviously so the occupant could view the surroundings. Dr Aquel and Donatello both shifted in awkwardness. "How's my family?" Don asked the first question. Already he was starting to wonder whether talking to the scientist was a good idea.

"From what I've heard, they sound like they're alright. I no longer have anything to do with it," Dr Aquel muttered.

"I heard that you were fired."

"Unfortunately."

"Why?" Don's curiosity returned.

"Because I questioned Dr Yesmal. He… I don't know what has gotten into him. He used to be a good researcher, but he's changed now," Dr Aquel admitted sadly.

"…I heard from Gabriel that Diana is pregnant. Is that true?" Don asked his next question.

"Which one is Gabriel?" Dr Aquel was confused.

"The little boy. Black bandanna."

"I'm sorry… I never did get all of your names…" Aquel sincerely admitted.

"You never asked," Don gave her a small smile.

"Guess not," the woman returned the same expression.

"I'm Donatello. The male wearing blue is Leonardo. The one in orange is Michelangelo. Raphael wears red. Venus, who's the oldest female, wears aqua, while her two daughters, Diana and Iris, wear white and yellow respectively," Don explained.

"So why do you wear the bandannas?" Dr Aquel was itching to find out.

"It's just a tradition we have in the family," Donatello generalised, not really answering her question. He didn't want to get into their entire past about how Splinter assigned them those colours, and how they kept on wearing them out of sentimentality.

"…If you don't mind me asking… What was the name of the one who… passed away?" Dr Aquel worded her question carefully, hoping that she wouldn't trigger an aggressive reaction from the turtle. Yet her query had an opposite effect on Donatello. Instead of being angry, Don was quite humbled by the question, as it showed him that the scientist genuinely cared.

"His name was Raphael," Donatello answered softly.

"So you named his son after him…" Donatello heard the scientist whisper, as though she was quite amazed by the creature's emotional depth and concept of familial bonds. A moment of silence passed between the two. The woman suddenly remembered her manners, and started to think about how she could go about wording Donatello's previously unanswered question. Despite the fact that the turtle had been more than civil to her so far, she was still worried about what his reaction would be. Although she had studied these unique animals for years, just like the rest of humanity, she was fearful of what she didn't understand. "Gabriel was correct in what he told you… Diana is in fact pregnant. But it wasn't my idea! You see, she had been storing the sperm. I wanted to find out why, or if there was any physical reason why she was holding off from having a baby, but Dr Yesmal just went ahead with the procedure," Dr Aquel found herself babbling along, as though she was trying to convince the adult turtle that she couldn't be held responsible for what had happened.

"So she wasn't pregnant in the first place?" Don wanted clarification. From what she could tell, the turtle didn't seem that angry or surprised.

"No," Aquel answered quietly.

"And you don't know why she was holding it off?" Don inquired further.

"Like I said, I wanted to find out, but Yesmal wouldn't allow me…" Dr Aquel let out an exasperated sigh.

"She was probably just stressed… She was so emotional… I wouldn't be surprised if that was the reason," Donatello quietly hypothesized to himself. The turtle stared at the scientist. By studying her expression, he could gauge what she was feeling. It was apprehension. She was incredibly alert, causing Don to suspect that Aquel was expecting some sort of backlash. "I understand why you did it," Don calmly spoke.

"You, you do?" Don could tell that she was relieved.

"We are an endangered species, and therefore you must do what you think is best in order for us continue," Don analysed.

"And what do you believe is best for your species?" Dr Aquel carefully worded.

"…It's hard for me to say… Well, I can say it; I just don't like hearing it. But I know that in order for… future generations to prosper, we are the ones who have to set it all up through… well, doing some things which may be considered immoral," Donatello stumbled over his thoughts and feelings for the matter. He had two different, contradicting opinions about the issue. A part of him could see things from an outsider's perspective, and could understand and foresee what needed to be done scientifically. Yet he still couldn't completely detach his personal feelings about the topic of promiscuity.

"Immoral? You view in-breeding as being immoral?" Aquel found herself asking.

"Don't you?" Don answered her back. That question caused him to wonder what she classified them as – human or animal?

"Well… I didn't mean it like that. It's just… there's a lot of animals in this world that don't think twice about it," the scientist reworded, hoping to sound more politically correct this time around.

"But… I don't like to think of myself as simply an animal…" Don rebutted.

"Well…" Aquel was stuck. She didn't want to offend the creature, especially when she knew how deadly they could be.

"I'm sorry," Donatello sighed. "I'm making you feel uncomfortable."

"No… It's alright, really," the woman quickly said. Although a part of her was somewhat intimidated, she still had many questions and queries that she wanted answers to. While she didn't want to upset him, or to get herself into a dangerous situation, the last thing she wanted was to have him shut down completely and lose contact.

"I'm sorry - I shouldn't have interrogated you like that. It's just a topic that irks me sometimes," Don muttered softly, looking out towards the door.

"…You can talk about it if you want…" Aquel said gently, wanting the turtle to open up once again. Donatello sighed.

"I just want to be treated like an equal. My whole family does," the turtle summarised.

"You mean… to live without fear of being captured?"

"Not exactly; rather I'd love to walk around normally, or to be a part of society," Don clarified.

"Like… citizenship?" Aquel was curious.

"I wouldn't mind it," Don admitted. He stared at the woman's face once again, only to find that her eyebrows had furrowed out of either confusion, disbelief, or she was deep in thought. "…You don't believe me, do you?" Don queried.

"I believe that you want equality… I just don't believe you'll achieve it in your lifetime," the woman was honest. Don couldn't help but frown.

"I don't see why we can't. I mean, we're literate, we have a language, intelligence, emotions… I think we've proven that already. What else can we do?" Donatello wondered hopelessly.

"To be honest… It's not up to you. Humanity needs the time to accept the fact that there's another intelligent species out there. In fact it tends to take society a long time to adjust to any major changes. When you look back through history, it took centuries for the majority of society to grasp at the fact that women and people of a different racial background should have the right to vote. If it took so long for people to accept others, even though we're all human, then don't expect to get results any time soon, especially since you're a different species entirely," Dr Aquel stated.

"…What are your views? Where do you stand?" Donatello finally asked straight out.

"On citizenship?"

"Do you think I'm human?" Donatello reworded his question. The scientist glanced at the ground, obviously thinking over what she was about to say. Judging from her body language and her sudden silence, Don could predict her answer.

"…You'll never be human, Donatello. You're a turtle," Aquel started off. "I believe that you're a highly intelligent animal with human attributes… But genetically, you're not human, and the world will always view you as being different, or rather separate from us," she finished. It was Don's turn to fall silent.

"I see…" Don murmured. An awkward silence followed.

"A while ago I went to Borneo to help out on a study about orangutans. The man in charge of the study had a very interesting story to tell. There was once a poacher who was trying to catch infant orangutans for the illegal pet trade. One day he found a mother and child pair up in the trees. Like always, he shot the mother without a second thought. She didn't die instantly, but she was fatally wounded. With her baby in her hands, she slowly climbed down the tree. Thinking only about the well-being of her young child, the female orangutan handed her baby over to the one person that could effectively take care of him… and that was the poacher. So touched by the dying orangutan's actions, the man gave up his lifestyle and, well, he was the one who lead our study on how to conserve them," Dr Aquel broke the silence with a short story. She felt horrible about her previous answer and hoped that this tale would make Don see her point of view a little better.

"That's quite a story," Don admitted.

"It's true though. I guess what I'm trying to tell you is that you shouldn't get so angry about what you're classified as. Sometimes animals are more human than humans… if that makes any sense," Aquel tried her best to explain her true thoughts on the matter of his intelligence. The turtle gave her a brief smile, clearly appreciating her words, despite their differences in opinion. Yet although the woman would forever view Donatello as non-human, she couldn't help but feel guilty with how she had previously treated him in the past.

It was her who was the one who had suggested that Donatello should be separated from his family all those years ago. Dr Aquel had known for quite some time just how sentient the turtles were, and yet she had continued to deny it straight to the media's face over and over again. Therefore the fearful and distrusting way the community viewed the turtles was partly her own fault. Then again, could she really be blamed for all of her past atrocities? Before the Government knew of how intelligent the turtles were, the scientific community had no additional funding for the research of their species. Most endangered or newly discovered animals aren't taken into captivity as they could respond negatively to being caged, although they are closely monitored in their natural environment. Yet the turtles were involved in completely different circumstances. They lived in New York City and could have been a possible threat to human life. It would be irresponsible of the authorities to leave them be in the first place.

Then there were the problems revolving around Simon Bonesteel. The man had caught all of the turtles, and at the time had acted in a manner to suggest that he had all rights over them unless someone paid him the proper amount of money. While there were many interested parties, in the end it was up to the New York City Zoo. It was only them that had the appropriate means of housing the reptilian family; only due to the fact that they were in the middle of renovations and could easily make changes to the enclosure plans. The zoo could have to tried to gain access to the turtles without paying Bonesteel, but in the end the amount of money they spent didn't matter as they gained it all back during the first week the bizarre creatures were placed on display. Yet exhibiting the turtles wasn't the best answer either. From the start they should have just been privately studied. But Bonesteel wrecked the possibility of those plans by going so public about his capture. People were curious and wanted to see the turtles, while the scientists needed the funding for research. It was ultimately the turtles who suffered the most; they deserved a more considerate decision based more around their well-being. That was what was so ironic about Dr Aquel's work. She had helped them, but she had assisted their species in a way that was detrimental to their freedom, lifestyle and family dynamics.

"…I want to ask something that has been on my mind for a long time." Donatello's question forced Aquel to snap out of her guilty, self-absorbed thoughts.

"Then ask," she guided gently. Donatello paused for a second.

"When we were all captured, did you test to see if we were all capable of breeding?"

"Of course we did. We wouldn't have started up the breeding program if we didn't know whether you guys were fertile or not," Dr Aquel said matter-of-factly.

"So there's no abnormalities?" Donatello wanted to make sure.

"Abnormalities? Uh, no, not really. Venus, Raphael and Diana are all heterozygous for albinism, while Leonardo, Diana and Gabriel all have a gene that inhibits them in producing antibodies for allergens," Aquel answered honestly.

"…So, there's nothing wrong with me?" Donatello specifically inquired. Ever since Morpheus' brief time in the world, Don had feared that his genes weren't perfect.

"Not that I know of," Dr Aquel reassured him.

"So if I had children, they'd be normal?"

"Should be. Why? Is there a problem that I don't know about?" The scientist was now curious as to why the turtle had asked so many questions about the topic.

"No. Don't worry about it. I'm just being paranoid," Donatello murmured, though he exhaled what seemed to be a sigh of relief right after completing his sentence.

"Are you thinking of having children?" Aquel quietly asked, wondering what the turtle had planned in his mind.

"It depends," Don said softly, not sure at that particular moment if he should continue to confide in the woman.

"On what?" Aquel urged him to continue.

"Venus and I… we've discussed the option. But we would only do it through artificial means, though we don't exactly have the technology," Donatello confessed, not knowing if it was right to tell the scientist or not.

"If you don't mind me asking… Why not do it naturally?" She hoped her question wasn't too bold.

"Leonardo and Venus are a couple, that's why. I don't want to tear them apart," Donatello muttered very softly. Although Venus had spoken with him about the idea of using in-vitro fertilisation, he no longer knew if the offer was still available. Not after Michelangelo had caught them out while talking about it. The means he went through in order to have his previous child had severely damaged his bond with Mike, and he definitely didn't want to go through anything remotely similar, such as being the cause of Leonardo and Venus' break up. Though despite the fact that he didn't want to get in anyone's way, he still had that primitive desire to have a child of his own.

"So your species does pair for life?" Dr Aquel just had to ask. She had hypothesized a long time ago that the turtles might have felt emotions such as love. But Dr Yesmal had dismissed her observations and found the notion quite laughable. Now she had the opportunity to find out who was correct.

"When it comes to relationships, we're just like humans. That's why we have to do it through artificial means, otherwise it'll just be inappropriate, awkward… and Leo will hate me," Donatello explained, feeling as though the answer was rather obvious, but understood nevertheless that the scientist was still learning.

"You know… if Yesmal was out of the picture, Andrew and I could probably arrange something. The procedure doesn't take that long. A few checkups may be needed, but otherwise it's fairly straightforward," the woman hinted at how she could help. Donatello stared into her eyes only to discover that she was indeed sincere. It was no longer about the money, glory, job or the research. Rather she just wanted to help them, with no strings attached.

"But Yesmal isn't out of the picture," Don pointed out, being negative even though he liked what she had offered.

"Tell me about it," Dr Aquel muttered.

"We're getting really worried about Leonardo, Raphael and Diana. Especially Venus. She's gotten really nervous over the past couple of days. She misses them a lot," Don admitted. A small part of him hoped that the scientist would be able to give him some news, but he knew that she was no longer involved.

"I've noticed that you haven't gone back to your lair," Aquel noted, taking the conversation in another direction.

"Of course not. We've been too busy keeping our eyes on the camp." Once again, Don thought the answer was obvious. Although she had the best of intentions, he started to feel slightly irritated that the woman didn't seem to fully grasp the concept that he was just like her in every way except for his physical appearance. But any negative thoughts were rapidly whisked away when he saw the pondering expression on Dr Aquel's face.

"…I've just thought of a way to get rid of Yesmal," Aquel suddenly announced, as though the solution had just hit her.

"How?" Don asked, partly excited and partly in denial.

"Well, because Yesmal is keeping three members of your family, it has effectively strained relationships within the clan. Your family unit isn't functioning normally, breeding partners have been separated, and most importantly, you guys are now attracted to human sites. Therefore Yesmal's study is putting human lives at risk," Aquel stated her case.

"Sounds like you've got a plan," Don found himself smiling.

"Leave it to me," Aquel grinned back in satisfaction.

* * *

"What do you mean you've changed your mind?" Dr Yesmal angrily questioned, projecting his voice loudly into the telephone's mouthpiece. Leonardo sat anxiously in his cage, straining his ears in the hopes that he'd be able to grasp what the argument was about. From what he had gathered so far, the scientist was speaking with his supervisor or superior from the United States Government. It was obvious that Yesmal didn't like what he was hearing.

"Like I said, we want you to release those turtles back into the wild," the solemn voice on the other end of the phone instructed. Yesmal snarled in response. Although he tried, Leonardo couldn't hear what was going on.

"Why on earth would you want that?" Yesmal questioned furiously.

"We've heard a lot of things about you, Yesmal. And it's not all good," the man's voice remained calm, yet stern.

"Did Dr Aquel speak to you? Because if she did, then I'm telling you that she's an inefficient and inexperienced worker who shouldn't be trusted!" Dr Yesmal jumped to conclusions, not liking the direction of the conversation.

"This isn't about her. I'm talking about you and what you are doing to those turtles," the man attempted to stay on topic by avoiding Yesmal's question entirely. The truth was that he had indeed received a phone call from Dr Aquel – a number supplied by Donatello, thanks to his past dealings in Washington DC. At first the Government was rather skeptical on what the female scientist had to say, as considering she had just been fired, it was a possibility that she was trying to jeopardise the study and her past employer's work. Essentially it came down to her word against his. But then the woman said that a turtle named Donatello had approached her and had spoken to her directly… and that's when the power shift occurred. Because of his past work for the Pentagon, some Government employees knew from first hand experience how intelligent Donatello was. They also knew what the turtle and his family were capable of. Knowing what Don had said to Aquel, the Government instantly suspected that a retaliation attack on humans was highly likely. Now it was almost as if they wanted to avoid a war; the turtles had made their terms clear, and now the Government was willing to oblige. After all, prior to being discovered on Hawaii by humans, the turtles had lived peacefully. Logically the Government realised the easiest solution would be to try and return everything to the way things were; instead of impracticably rounding up all of the turtles and relocating them to a zoo… which they'd probably escape out of at a later date anyway.

"So it was Aquel you set you up to this!" Yesmal assumed.

"Listen, Yesmal. Just do what you're told and follow orders," the man was getting tired of arguing.

"I demand to know why! Don't you know that I'm treating them for medical reasons?" Dr Yesmal started to become defensive.

"Yes. And according to our sources, one of them was treated for a gun shot wound because of the irresponsible people you foolishly hired to hunt them down," the man stated the facts, hoping that it'll silence the scientist.

"I told you! Don't listen to Aquel! She doesn't know what she's talking about!" Once again, Yesmal blamed his past co-worker.

"And then there's the fact that you're keeping another one of them captive for no apparent reason…" the man continued to argue his points. Yesmal was stumped for a second. He glared at Raphael, watching the turtle as he stared back. Like Leo, Raphael was also wondering what the scientist was talking about. Yesmal gave him a snarl. It was true – there was no reason, apart from pure hatred, as to why Raphael was being held captive. The scientist absentmindedly clenched and unclenched his free hand, remembering the pain the turtle had put him through. Now, years later, it seemed that the same turtle was giving him problems. Yesmal gritted his teeth. He had Raphael now as his prisoner, and there was no way he was going to give up his prize without a fight.

"No! I will not release them!" Yesmal barked into the phone. Leo, Raph and Diana all stared at the scientist; all of them now knowing what the argument was about. Leo's heart thumped with interest while his eyes glimmered with hope. He could sense that they were close to escaping; that there was no need for a rescue. All that seemed to stand between them and freedom was Yesmal's hard-boiled ego.

"You will do as I say…" the man on the phone reminded Yesmal of his authority.

"And what if one of them gets stung by a bee and dies, because they did not receive the shots I'm giving them in order for a resistance to be built up?" Yesmal tried to argue intelligently, since debating Aquel's credibility obviously wasn't working.

"We're prepared to take the risk. At the moment, holding those three captive is causing the rest of them to be attracted towards civilisation. They're agitated, and the last thing we need is a human life to be lost," the man told the scientist of the problem.

"That's preposterous! No such thing will happen!" Yesmal growled angrily, though he had no proof behind his words.

"We've heard otherwise." When Yesmal heard the response, he snarled once again. He knew deep down that Aquel had outsmarted him in his own game.

"I'm the scientist, and I'm the one who should have the last say about the well-being of these animals!" Yesmal practically screamed in frustration.

"And I'm the one in charge of funding your research, and therefore I should have the last say in whether you should have a job or not!" The man had finally snapped. Dr Yesmal fell silent upon hearing the threat of losing his job. There was nothing else the scientist could say. "Now release those turtle back into the wild, or you're fired. I'm not going to repeat myself anymore. Just do it." With that, Yesmal heard a click and then the dial tone. His boss had hung up. Exhaling angrily, Yesmal quietly put down the phone. The room was incredibly silent. The scientist looked towards the three turtles, only to find them all anxiously staring back.

"What do you want?" Yesmal screamed at the reptiles, irked by their constant, hopeful gaze. "If you think that I'm going to set you free, then think again!" He said to them, desiring to kill whatever glimmer of optimism they had in their souls. Unfazed by his comment, the turtles continued to stare at the scientist.

"Why not?" Leonardo asked simply.

"Because you're under my control!" Dr Yesmal hissed.

"It didn't sound that way on the phone," Leo slyly noted.

"Those people just sit in an office all day, dealing with paperwork! What the Hell do they know about animals?"

"From the length of the conversation, I'd hazard a guess and say that they know quite a bit," Leonardo was quick to answer back. Dr Yesmal grumped and paced a few steps out of what seemed to be frustration.

"You see, this is why you're in there and I'm over here. You know nothing about politics or jobs because you've never had one! You're a stupid animal!" Dr Yesmal named-called in an attempt to feel superior.

"If I'm so stupid, then why are you bothering to argue with me?" Leonardo calmly shrugged, using the man's own words against him. Once again Yesmal snarled and paced, obviously infuriated that the turtle kept winning the verbal battles. Leonardo could easily pick up that the man was stalling so that he could formulate another response. Raphael couldn't help but grin at what Leo had said. The scientist glared at the red-wearing turtle's expression.

"You can wipe that smirk off your face. Trust me – I'm not through with you yet!" Yesmal threatened.

"Trust me – the Government will be through with you before you'll be through with my son," once again Leo twisted the conversation around.

"Don't threaten me! I'm the one with the power here. Not you. I could easily leave you all in here to rot!"

"And you'll be fined, charged and jailed for causing cruelty to so-called stupid animals," Leo smartly replied. The aggravated scientist turned his back on the turtles. Leonardo continued to stare him down, just knowing that some of his words had finally made it through to the irrational human. "You know that I can play this game too. I may not be in a position of power inside these bars, but in the outside world, I am the one with all the rights. Admit it; you need us, just as much as we need you," Leonardo sternly reasoned with the man.

"I need nothing," Yesmal hissed under his breath.

"You need a job," Leo corrected. The turtle watched as the man stiffened upon hearing those true words. "What is your plan, Yesmal?" Leo asked seriously.

"You are to experience the same pain that I went through… especially that one," Yesmal muttered, pointing to Raphael. The teenage turtle glowered in response. Leonardo remained calm as he wanted his responses to come across as being sincere and levelheaded.

"And what then? I'm certain that you remember what happened to Dr Welner? How he lost his job? But unlike him who reacted on impulse, you, Yesmal, are directly disobeying your orders. Now not only will you lose your job, but will never be able to work in this field ever again… that is, if animal welfare organisations don't send you to jail," Leonardo spoke sternly. Dr Yesmal remained silent. Leo knew he was listening. "But I'm guessing that you already knew all that. So now it's all up to you. What choice will you make, Yesmal? Is sacrificing your life's work worth the opportunity to take revenge? Are you willing to be caged like us?"

"Shut up!" Yesmal snapped.

"Is taking revenge worth your freedom, Yesmal?" Leonardo yelled out, wanting his voice to be heard over the scientist's outburst. "Because it seems to me that you've got more to lose than just some nerves in your hand!" Leonardo loudly summarised.

The turtle had never seen that expression on Yesmal's face before. It was the look of defeat. His head tilted downwards, his hair almost drooped over his somber eyes, while his withering gaze focused on the tips of his work boots. Leonardo watched as Yesmal clenched and unclenched his fist once again, as if he was trying to determine what the best course of action would be. But the answer was clear. The turtles had to be set free.

Dr Yesmal didn't say anything to Leonardo. He didn't want to give the reptile the satisfaction of hearing the words, 'I'm sorry', or 'you're right'. Instead, Dr Yesmal jerked his head up, moved forwards, and grabbed the set of keys on his desk. Leonardo found himself holding his breath – he knew the scientist wasn't thinking clearly. Wrapped up in his furious emotions, Dr Yesmal stormed towards Leonardo's cage, and after a moment of reluctance, he placed the key in the lock. The scientist didn't know why he was angry anymore. Was it because he couldn't get his own way? The fact that the turtle was right? Or did he rush his actions so he would feel less embarrassed about his losses? It was obvious to Leo that the man wasn't being rational. If he was, he would have grabbed a set of tranquils instead of the keys. The turtles were classified as dangerous animals, and due to Occupational Health and Safety standards, they should have been sedated before being released. Allowing his angry, frustrated and crushed emotions to rule over his actions, Dr Yesmal was about to make a huge mistake.

Leonardo listened intently for the sound of the lock clicking open. The turtle prepared himself as the clasp of the padlock was removed entirely from the door. At the very first available moment, Leonardo leapt for the entrance, pushing the barred door so that it heavily swung into Yesmal's surprised body. The scientist was knocked onto the floor from the force of the impact. Before Yesmal could gather his senses, Leonardo grabbed onto one arm so he could drag the man across the ground, aiming for one of the desks lining the nearest wall. Letting go for a second so that Leo could snatch one of Raphael's confiscated sai, the turtle quickly regained control by pressing a foot on top of Yesmal's chest, pinning him to the ground.

Ever so slowly, Leonardo leaned over and gripped a handful of the scientist's hair, pulling his head upwards, closer and closer to the tip of the sai Leo was holding in his other hand. The man had never looked so scared. His eyes were opened wide in fright. His entire body shuddered in fear. Under his foot, Leo could feel the man's heart thud faster and faster out of shock and surprise. Very carefully, Leo traced the tip of the sharp weapon along Yesmal's jawbone. He added a little bit of pressure, causing Yesmal to stiffen in obedience.

"You're a scientist," Leo softly stated, his eyes transfixed on Yesmal's fearful gaze. "So you should know what the difference is between an animal and a human," Leo completed his sentence. The turtle centered the tip of the blade right under Yesmal's chin. "Apart from being sentient, humans can experience very complex emotions and feelings… or so I've heard," Leo uttered softly. The turtle's calmness and precision sent an eerie shudder throughout the captive's body. "Love, hate, jealousy, pride and empathy, just to name a few," Leo summarised. The turtle leaned forward even more, so he could place his mouth next to the human's ear. "Another one… is mercy," Leo whispered before pulling back so he could observe Yesmal's expression. The man gasped and shuddered once more. "Now I know what you're thinking. You're hoping that I can experience these feelings as well," Leo stated slowly as he started to trace the sai around Yesmal's neck again. The turtle briefly glanced at his anxious daughter, before placing his attention back onto his prisoner. "You're not my enemy, Dr Yesmal. A true enemy wouldn't have saved my daughter's life. However, I'd love to shove this sai right into your pathetic jugular," Leo hissed. "You remember how painful this weapon can be, right?" the turtle now taunted. "But I guess this is your lucky day. You see, I know what mercy feels like. I understand what honour is. If I didn't, then I guess that'll make me a 'stupid animal', as you had so eloquently put it," Leonardo articulated his last words carefully, wanting the scientist to remember what he had said for the rest of his life.

With a small amount of effort, Leo removed his foot, grabbed the man's arm, and quickly dragged him along the floor. In one swift movement, he shoved Dr Yesmal into the open and vacant cage, before hastily clicking the padlock back into place. Leonardo smirked. Now Dr Yesmal was the animal.

Not wanting to waste time gloating, Leonardo hurriedly opened the cage to his daughter. "Can you walk?" he questioned.

"I, I think so," Diana answered, though she didn't sound convincing. While Diana slowly emerged from her cage, Leonardo moved onto freeing Raphael. The girl hobbled as she took a few practice steps, letting out a few uncontrollable hisses of pain as she went. Now free, Raphael scooted over to her side in order to help. Not pushing him away, Diana allowed Raph to carry her in his arms. Meanwhile, Leonardo hid the keys on Yesmal's desk before equipping himself with Raph and Diana's weapons. Dr Yesmal was still too scared from his ordeal to say anything.

"There's guards outside. How will we get out?" Raphael wondered.

"We have the element of surprise. Just run," Leo ordered. Nodding to each other, both turtles headed for the exit. With a strong kick, Leonardo burst the doors open, stunning the nearby guards. Not wasting time, the two turtles broke out into a sprint; Raphael trying his best to keep a firm hold on his injured half-sister. The guards didn't shoot. By the time they had recovered from the shock of the turtles' sudden appearance, it was obvious that the reptiles weren't any threat, considering they were running back towards the woods. Instead, the guards curiously inspected the lab, only to find a bedraggled Yesmal trapped inside what used to be Leonardo's cage.

Raph and Leo were almost into the woods when several figures emerged from their hiding places. Leonardo couldn't stop grinning. The three escapees were welcomed into opening arms. They were a family once more.

"I see you found them," Raphael proudly smiled at his little brother. Gabriel confidently grinned back, pleased at how he had successfully followed his elder's orders.

"Are you okay, Diana? …Can you walk?" Donatello immediately questioned as soon as he saw Diana in Raph's arms.

"I'm fine," Diana meekly admitted.

"Yesmal said that she will fully recover. It'll just take some time," Leonardo informed everyone. While the others were preoccupied with Diana and Raphael, Leo locked eyes with Venus.

Staring at her husband, Venus felt guilty about what had happened during his absence. How could she have even considered adultery? How could she have even thought about hurting the man she loved? Knowing what life was like without him, Venus wanted nothing more than to be in his arms. The arguments that they had experienced before now seemed petty. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Leo's shell, allowing her head to rest at the top of his plastron. Leonardo was quick to return the embrace, as it was something he had yearned for during the time he had spent in captivity. He could feel her warm tears drip onto the base of his neck. "I missed you," Venus whispered.

"I missed you too," Leonardo automatically answered. He continued to hold her as she wept out of relief and remorse. Venus couldn't believe that a few days ago she was willing to give this up.

"I love you. I really do," Venus whispered. Leonardo stepped back slightly so he could tilt her head upwards. He gently leaned in and gave a tender kiss on the lips.

"I love you too," Leo replied softly. Breaking out of the moment, Leonardo looked around at his excited family. "Now let's get out of here!" Leo happily announced.

_To be continued…_

Author's Notes: That orangutan story Dr Aquel told is a true story. Now, I know a lot of you wanted Yesmal to be killed, but it wasn't part of my plan, and if the turtles did cause another human death, then it probably wouldn't be the best for them, especially when they're trying to gain favours from Aquel and Andrew. Anyway, don't get too comfy yet – there's still quite a few chapters left to go. I've got a couple more loose ends to tie up. Unfortunately, updates will be coming in slowly. I'm nearing the end of my studies, so I've got a lot of work to finish up and a few things to organise. I hope this chapter was worth the wait.


	19. The Talk

Chapter Nineteen: The Talk.

The lair no longer felt like home. The safe and secure feeling that it once held had now been destroyed. Diana was the most shaken, most likely because she was incapable of running away if the hunters and their horses returned. Yet Leonardo ensured his family that no harm would come to pass. He had explained to them how the Government was no longer interested in capturing their species. Leo also gleefully told them that he was absolutely certain that they'd never see Yesmal's face ever again. He even reminded his fellow turtles of the fact that the hunters were either in hospital or in police custody. Yet that still didn't quell the uneasy thought that they had been found. Their lair had been discovered; never again could it be a secret.

Diana became rather withdrawn when she finally returned home. Raphael had located the Hog that he had hid near the campsite earlier and allowed her to sit in front of him as he drove - as it would have been too tiresome for him to carry her all of the way back to the lair. With her healing leg being a burden when it came to moving about, she sat in front of the solar-powered television for the rest of the afternoon. A lot of the family wanted to talk with her, or to see how she was coping, but they all could sense that she simply needed some time alone. Diana would come to them when the time was right.

Yet while his daughter didn't want to deal with any issues, Leo, on the other hand, was itching to solve some. In his eyes, there were just some problems that had been left long enough. They had to be dealt with that very night. It started just after dinner, once Mike and Venus had cooked the family a quick meal of fish and rice. Sitting in a cluster in front of the television, Leonardo had stood up and switched it off. "What gives?" Mike was baffled by Leo's actions.

"We need to talk," was Leo's simple reply.

"Can't it wait? I wanna find out who dies next in LOST!" Mike whined. Leo calmly shook his head.

"We've delayed this talk long enough. Tonight's the night we discuss it."

"Discuss what?" Don wished Leo would stop being so cryptic.

"The future of our species."

"Oh… that," Mike murmured, knowing it was one messy subject. "Iris? Gabriel? It's getting late. You should start thinking about getting ready for bed," the adult gently persuaded.

"No. They should stay," Leo insisted.

"But Leo…" Venus was about to interject but was stopped when her husband lifted his hand, as if to suggest that she should wait until she heard his reasoning.

"This discussion involves all of us. They might as well hear it now."

"They're only nine…" Mike said softly.

"Let them stay, Mike. Leo could be right – the sooner they hear this, then the sooner they can accept it," Donatello added his thoughts. With everyone settled, Leonardo sat back down and joined the family circle. The turtles stared at each other, all of them feeling rather awkward. "So where do we start?" Don finally ended the awful silence.

"Well… as we all know, Diana and Raph are having a child," Leonardo started off.

"Do, do you guys have a problem with this? I mean, we're all in this together, right?" Raphael wondered why the conversation started with them.

"Of course we'll help out, it's just that you two are the parents and therefore the majority of the responsibility will naturally fall on you," Leo reminded the teenagers.

"So… you're not concerned about us dating? As long as we take care of this baby, you don't mind?" Raph wanted to make things clear.

"Raph… It's not the relationship we're discussing… It's the future of the child," Leo clarified.

"What do you mean?" Diana was puzzled.

"Well…" Leonardo paused. He didn't want to offend anyone. But no matter how he was going to word the ultimate truth, it was never going to sound sweet and easy. Leo sighed in defeat; unable to continue his thoughts. "…This is why we should have discussed this years ago…" he murmured.

"It comes down to genetics," Donatello picked up where Leo had left off, hoping he'd be able to give a more clinical and detached assessment which is what the conversation called for. "I think we've all known that the third generation was going to get messy. In fact, it's going to be that way from here on out. For a third, fourth, fifth and so on, generation to exist, either inbreeding occurs, which is what has happened or… the second generations pair up with the first," Donatello blatantly pointed out the problem. Nobody dared to say a word. The news wasn't shocking, it was just that everybody ashamedly knew it to be the truth. "So I guess what we really have to discuss is how we're going to continue on our species. Are we going to develop a plan based on genetics? Are we just going to leave things be; leave it all to love? Or, alternatively, are we going to allow ourselves to become extinct?" Don summarised.

"Becoming extinct isn't an option. Sure, the scientific community at least for now will let us be, however I'm certain that they'll step in once more if our numbers begin to decline," Leonardo explained, immediately eliminating Donatello's last suggestion.

"So I guess it's down to choosing between love and genetics," Don simplified.

"Genetics?" Gabriel quietly spoke. He knew what the word meant, however he failed to see the two options Don was talking about.

"Remember that science lesson I taught you just a little while ago?" Don asked.

"Yes," Gabe said, remembering how is uncle had spoke of dominant and recessive genes using peas as an example.

"Well, basically what we as a species could aim to do, is to broaden the gene pool as much as possible," Don tried his best to explain what options were available to them.

"What pool?" Iris suddenly became very confused. She had tuned out for most of the conversation, however her little head had lifted up in excitement as soon as a 'pool' was mentioned; just hoping she'd be able to have some fun and go swimming.

"It's an expression," Mike chuckled.

"It's so we can avoid inbreeding until it's absolutely necessary," Donatello bothered to answer her innocent question, though he knew his words would fly straight over her little yellow-wearing head.

"Hypothetically, let's say that we did take this option. What would be involved?" Leonardo asked seriously.

"Well, I guess we would start off by creating as many unrelated pairings as possible. For instance, if Raphael and Diana's child ends up being a girl, then she is completely unrelated to Mike and myself. Diana's the same. Iris isn't related to you or I…" Don went through the list of current possibilities.

"And I'm not related to Donatello…" Venus finished Don's sentence.

"Are you suggesting…" Leonardo trailed off. A part of him already knew what the answer would be. Yet he was shocked with how casually everything was being mentioned.

"With our consent, Dr Aquel said that she'd be willing to do all the IVF procedures," Donatello expanded his explanation.

"Wait? You've planned this?" Leonardo suddenly became very alarmed. He understood the dire circumstances their species was in, however it made him feel incredibly uncomfortable and inadequate to know that another man, one he thought he could trust, had spoken privately to his wife about having a child with her. Their discussion was no longer hypothetical… This was already becoming their reality; one that Leo couldn't readily accept.

"We've only thought about it," Venus stated calmly, hoping her husband won't immediately jump to conclusions.

"I don't like this!" Leo exclaimed, clearly displeased with how the two had been plotting behind his back.

"So what about me and Gabriel? Are we just useless?" Leo's disapproval had quickly rubbed off onto Raphael. After listening intently to the discussion, Raph felt as though he was genetically inferior to the clean-cut first generation. He had known for a long time that he would never find a female who was completely unrelated to him. It took him years to come to grips with the fact that an incestuous relationship would be the only way to end the lonely void in his life. Years ago the clan didn't seem to think twice about it, but now that everyone finally wanted to discuss solutions, it peeved Raphael to know that they had changed their minds. The adults had practically said that he wasn't genetically good enough for Diana. That he wasn't allowed to have a child, or enter a relationship with her. Through artificial means, they even wanted to take her away; partner her up with someone else. Raphael was silently fuming in his seat on the floor, trying his best to not make a giant outburst.

"No! Will everyone just calm down and think rationally for a second!" Don tried to play the role of the peacemaker, hoping to halt the growing paranoia.

"Rationally? Don, you want to impregnate my wife, let alone suggesting that my daughter should pair up with someone twenty-four years older than her! It's barbaric!" Leonardo wasn't going to drop the subject so easily.

"It's not barbaric! Leo, you're the one who wanted this conversation. What did you expect us to say?" Donatello rebutted. Leonardo paused, suddenly feeling stupid. Don was right – what did he expect from such a difficult subject?

"…I guess I just didn't want to hear it. But that doesn't mean that it's not wrong," Leo said quietly once he had calmed down.

"Leo… when I spoke with Dr Aquel the other day, she said something that I can't shake from my mind," Don mentioned.

"And what was that?"

"…We're not human," Don stated carefully, not knowing how the blue-wearing turtle would react to his comment.

"But… you know that's not true," Leo was convinced otherwise.

"But at the same time it's not false either." Fear was starting to creep into Leonardo's body. What happened to his brother while he was away? What happened to Splinter's moral teachings? Had all of this been lost on Donatello? Had the female scientist manipulated him? There were so many questions, especially when the answers weren't clear, yet one thing was certain; Donatello had changed. No longer was he turtle that believed that their mutation wasn't just an accident. He was no longer the mechanical genius that sought meaning to how things worked. Instead, he had become a realist who just simply saw things as they were, and nothing else.

"So you're saying that we should live like animals?" Leo couldn't believe the words that kept popping out of Don's mouth.

"No! Well, not exactly. Just give me time to explain," Don tried to reason.

"Fine," Leo grunted after quickly realising that he had jumped to conclusions rather quickly. He crossed him arms, preparing to hear something he didn't agree with.

"Dr Aquel said that we're not human, and, well, she's right! We're turtles. We don't have the same rights as humans do. We're not citizens. We're not Americans. And since we're not treated as equals, we're not judged by the same rules. We have to stop comparing ourselves to humans, since it has become obvious that their lifestyle cannot be applied to our own set of circumstances. I guess in the end, what I'm trying to say is that we're simply an endangered species trying to make things work. That's all," Donatello tried to communicate the very basic and essential idea behind how they should build and view their lives.

"We're more than that, Donny," Mike said, also becoming slightly worried with how simplistic Don was summarising everything.

"I know. But I'm just saying that in order for us to progress, we need to view ourselves in a different light." Don was starting to get frustrated. No one seemed to be willing took at his or her life in a different perspective, not even for a split second in order to understand where he was coming from.

"As animals," Leo grumpily reminded Don about what he had said earlier.

"Well… yes! I mean, what is right and wrong? In a human society, the term 'right' is given to actions which are condoned by most religions, while the term 'wrong' is given to actions which go against the will of those gods or goddesses. Leo, we don't have a religion. If we do something that is considered right, then we don't receive any medals. Similarly, if we do something that's perceived as being wrong, we don't get punished or placed in jail. Hey, I can't even count the number of times where we've had to murder for the sake of our survival,' Don said, desperately trying to separate their lives from the human ideal they had always tried to hopelessly live up to.

"That doesn't mean that we should condone it, Don," Leo frowned.

"No, I don't mean it like that. It's just that we're in a completely different set of circumstances. Like, for instance, for humans it is considered rather inappropriate for there to be a twenty-four year age difference between partners. But how can that mindset relate to us? For us, those ideals are going to kill our species! It's the same with incest. For humans, it's considered wrong due to the fact that they've got plenty of other choices, along with the fact that incest raises a lot of problems when it comes to genetics. But for us… there is no other choice! We're just going to have to accept that. That's why I keep saying that we can't keep trying to apply human rules to our non-human lives. It's not going to work!"

"…I understand," Mike murmured. He glanced briefly at Diana, knowing exactly what Don had been referring to. They had quickly spoken about the topic before, though their roles had been reversed. Michelangelo knew first hand how different their lives were from humans. He knew that in the animal kingdom, age meant nothing. It was only in human society that a vast age difference was frowned upon. People wanted to protect the minors, or people disapproved of 'gold diggers'. Yet in their situation, there was no money involved. Yes, Diana was considered young, that is, in the Western world. Yet native tribes in Africa would think of her as being mature. It all depended on perspective and what made the most sense to them and their lifestyle.

"I don't," Raph interjected.

"What don't you understand? Is it the genetics?" Donatello was confused as a few seconds ago he was using Raphael and Diana's relationship as an example of what should eventually be accepted.

"No! The entire concept!" Raph angrily raised his voice in defiance. Shocked at his own outburst, Raph quietly stared at Diana for a few seconds while he gathered his thoughts. The girl didn't return his gaze. Instead Diana looked at the ground while her fingers toyed with some grass blades. "I… I love Diana. And you're here, trying to tell me that it makes more sense for her to be with someone else, just because her genes are more compatible. I'm sorry, but that makes no sense whatsoever to me!"

"…Raph?" Don started.

"What?" Raph responded with anticipation. There was silence. Donatello knew what had to be said and yet the words couldn't come out of his mouth. He could understand why Raph was so angry even though he had explained that in the future incest would be the norm for their species. Raphael didn't disagree with that part, however it was the time line that churned his fury. For Donatello, inbreeding was a far off option, however for Raph that was too far away. If he ever wanted to start a family of his own, then incest was his only option. It was the same for Gabriel, and Raph wanted to make sure that his future was spoken for as well.

"Raphael has a point. It's all very clinical saying who should be with who based on genetics… but where's the love? The mind can't control where the heart falls…" Leonardo spoke for the two boys.

"What we have to come to grips with is that we're the founders of our species. If we make huge sacrifices now, then future generations, since they'll all end up being closely related anyway, will have the opportunity of choosing who to love," Don explained.

"Then why bother? If they're gonna be all inbred, then why should we sacrifice love?" Raph harshly wondered, only thinking of his quality of life.

"The whole aim of doing this would be to spread the gene pool as much as possible. Yes, future generations will still end up being inbred, but it'll happen much later and they won't be as inbred as they could end up being," Don said.

"So that's it, huh? Gabe and I are just gonna be destined to be lonely?" Raphael continued to argue even though he understood his uncle's point of view.

"Maybe we could have the best of both worlds?" Venus spoke up.

"How can that work?" Leonardo was baffled.

"Well… It already has worked. I mean, Iris…" Venus trailed off when she spotted her illegitimate daughter sitting a few paces away from her. She didn't want to offend the little girl, nor did she want to upset her father. So she quickly reworded her sentence. "Just because Mike and I had a child through IVF, it doesn't make me love you any less, Leo," Venus said truthfully.

"I know what you're getting at. Basically you can fall in love with anyone that you want, it's just the baby part that's planned," Mike summarised using his own words.

"Yeah, but then every child will be artificially produced and not created out of love," Leo continued to criticise the plan.

"But the couple who are in love can raise the child as their own," Venus interjected.

"What about guys like Gabe and myself? Raising a child isn't the same as having your own!" Raph emotionally argued.

"I think we need to stop and think about what has been said tonight. I don't think we'll come to a clear conclusion any time soon," Don maturely called for an end, just hating how everyone kept attacking each other.

"I agree," Leo said softly.

"We just need to think things through, maybe take the time to accept new things. Personally I like Venus' suggestion the best, where while we won't control romance, we should start building up a large gene pool through IVF," Don started to wrap up what they had discussed.

"I'm not thoroughly pleased with that plan because it seems immoral… however I do understand where you're coming from," Leo reluctantly agreed.

"I guess we should call it a night then. It's way past Iris and Gabriel's bedtime," Mike said while stifling a yawn. It really wasn't that late; he just felt uncomfortable with what his daughter had heard and witnessed.

"Well, I guess that ends that," Venus sighed.

"Lets not leave it too long till we talk about this again," Don advised.

"We won't." Leonardo murmured. Thinking deeply about what was discussed during their heated conversation, Leonardo didn't say another word as he trudged back to the cave that he and Venus shared. His bed was only made up of blankets and palm leaves, but he sighed with relief when he viewed them. Anything was better than sleeping in that horrible cramped cage while under Dr Yesmal's constant scrutiny.

"Well that was a cheery discussion!" Venus mumbled when she caught up to Leo in their bedroom.

"I didn't think it would get that intense," Leo admitted.

"Everyone just had their own opinion to voice. That's all," Venus shrugged.

"You can say that again." From the tone of Leo's voice, Venus could tell that he was still harboring some anger. "I didn't know you two had planned so much behind my back…"

"Leo, it wasn't like that," Venus plainly told him.

"But what happened to our plans? What happened to us having another baby?" Leonardo raised his voice, frustrated with all the new changes.

"We can't have another baby…" Venus' words were almost inaudible. Leonardo paused for a few seconds out of both confusion and shock.

"What? Why not?"

"Subconsciously my body won't allow it. It's… It's storing the sperm… I can't control it. It's a primordial response. I can't will myself to have a baby with you… not when my brain knows…" Venus rambled, not knowing what to say. She was ashamed of herself; almost feeling dirty about how her hormones worked. As a Shinobi she had mastered her internal chi energy, and yet she was still a victim of her own primitive instincts.

"About Don?" Leo finished her sentence.

"Turtles in the wild aren't supposed to be monogamous. It's a natural thing. My…" Venus had to stop. What was 'it'? She didn't even understand how her body worked. Was it all just the result of her instincts or hormones? Was it really subconscious? She found it incredibly difficult to explain her innocent problem to Leo especially when she didn't know what it was herself. "It's just trying to regulate the population," Venus added. It was the best answer she could come up with.

"So we can never have children again?" Leo looked like his heart had just stopped beating. Mortified, he anxiously awaited a clear answer.

"No, I don't think it's like that. It just wants…" Venus trailed off once again. She felt like she was cheating on herself. Her body seemed to want what she morally couldn't obtain. Venus loved her husband and didn't want to give him the wrong idea, but she didn't want to lie to him either. All she could hope for was for Leo to remain open-minded.

"Variety?" It was the second time he had completed Venus' sentence.

"Yes," Venus let out an exasperated sigh, tired of wording her immoral instincts in a non-offensive light.

"No," Leonardo suddenly said.

"No?" Venus was shocked. Her heart jolted with the fear of being misunderstood.

"I won't allow this," Leo sternly demanded.

"Leo…" Venus started, wanting to change his mind.

"I won't allow you to pimp yourself out to everyone." Leo's words were harsh and blunt. Venus was stunned for a few seconds; her eyes blankly blinked at the male turtle until they finally narrowed into a dark glare.

"I'm not a prostitute, Leonardo! How can you say that? I'm talking about using IVF!" Venus was furious with Leo's choice of words. She couldn't understand how he could say such things. He had completely exaggerated the situation and had turned it into something uglier than what it originally was.

"No! You're my wife! You belong to me and only me," Leo harshly corrected her. He had always been over protective with the things he loved the most. Venus knew this, and often hated how he suffocated her with his blind fear.

"…I am not one of your possessions, Leonardo," Venus announced loud and clear, hoping to get through to him. The dark glare hadn't disappeared from her face.

"It's the principle of the matter," Leonardo wasn't going to back down on the issue.

"I love you, Leo! Why don't you understand that?" Venus cried out while her eyes started to swell with frustrated tears.

"Because you want to have a baby with someone else! And you planned this! Without my consent!" Leonardo accused, hurtling his words towards her with a loud, booming voice. Venus hopelessly shook her head, trying her best to not allow her tears to fall.

"Leo… Donatello and I… There's nothing between us!" Venus frantically yelled. "…You view him as your brother, don't you?" Venus asked quietly, suddenly changing the volume of her voice, hoping to connect with him differently.

"Of course," Leo softened his voice as well, knowing how much he was upsetting her. Venus paced a few steps and calmed herself down while she gathered her thoughts.

"Well that's how I view him. Leo… I just want to make him happy. I want to give him the greatest gift of all… A child. Why don't you want that too? You've seen how he takes care of Gabriel; he's practically adopted the boy! He's crying out for a purpose in life. Mike was once like him, that was until Iris was born, and now look how happy he is with her! Now we've got each other, Mike's got his own daughter, while Don's had to horribly deal with Morpheus and Sarah. After being separated from us for all those years, being hunted down by the military… isn't this the least we can do?" Venus finally explained her entire view on the matter, just hoping that voicing her thoughts would appeal to Leo. The male turtle stayed silent as she spoke, listening to every word. He took a few moments before he replied.

"It… It was just a really confusing time for me when Iris was born. I don't want to feel that way again," Leo softly admitted.

"Iris was unexpected. But we can prepare for this…"

"I just don't see how this will work," Leo truthfully whispered.

"Like what?" Venus wanted more of an explanation.

"Is Donatello going to raise the baby by himself? Are you going to spend some time helping him? Or are we going to raise his baby?" Leonardo sought for more answers.

"Well… I guess we'll raise the child as a family unit, with Don having most of the responsibility. Sort of like what happened with Iris, in that we'll tell them who their father is early on," Venus explained.

"And what about the actual IVF procedure? How can you trust them?" Leo seriously worried.

"Leo… You know it's going to be a give and take situation with humans. They need to learn from us, while we'll need them should anything go wrong. Don said that Aquel is willing to help us if need be," Venus spoke with honesty. Leonardo let out a long sigh and glanced at the ground. Venus stared at him with hopeful eyes, glad to see that he was finally at least considering the option.

"I… I guess it'll be okay," Leo's voice was incredibly faint, sounding as though he had just lost a battle and was now admitting defeat.

"Are you sure?" Venus asked, now fearful that she had pressured him into agreeing with her.

"You're right… Don's my brother. He's never let me down. Now is the time when I can thank him…" Leo admitted, no longer only thinking about himself.

"I know it's hard for you… But I'm glad you agree," Venus said while she tenderly touched one of his hands as a sign of appreciation and thankfulness.

"So when should we organise this?" Leo wondered.

"I was thinking within the next couple of months. It might be nice if Diana's child had a playmate. It'll be easier to teach her things that way. Maybe we could work it so that for the first few months, all of our attention will be helping Diana, then Don's baby could hatch once all the initial chaos is over," Venus logically planned.

"It isn't just Diana's baby; it's Raph's as well," Leo corrected, not wanting anyone to forget that.

"I know."

"I can't believe this is happening," Leo murmured.

"What is?" Venus urged him to reveal his plaguing thoughts.

"That Diana's going to have a baby." Oddly enough, there didn't seem to be much emotion behind his words. Rather he felt incredibly numb by the whole experience, quite stoic from hearing the news. It still hadn't sunk in.

"I know how you feel," Venus whispered.

"She's just a little girl… My little girl…" Leo sighed, feeling as though he had lost someone.

"She's a young lady, Leo," the female turtle reminded him.

"No, she's only thirteen. Her childhood has been taken from her," Leo's words were firm as his rising hatred for Dr Yesmal quickly returned.

"Well, she didn't have much of a childhood to begin with. Raph and Diana are far more mature than other teenagers their age," Venus tried to think positively.

"That doesn't change the fact that she's too young to have a baby."

"You never know; it might be for the best," Venus was hopeful.

"How?" Leo was confused, especially when his wife didn't seem to agree with him on what a tragedy it was.

"It's like what Donatello said tonight. Thirteen is considered young for humans because they still have to go to school, get a diploma and get a job. But Diana doesn't have that problem," Venus explained.

"She's still got her ninjitsu lessons!" Leonardo exclaimed. His point seemed rather trivial, but he did want to believe that he was doing something incredibly important with her life. He wanted all of the children to be well versed in the art of ninjitsu and he took pride in how precise Diana's moves were, even though she did have a habit in freezing up during a fight. Even though she didn't have a future like a human's, that didn't mean that he wanted her to give up and settle down before she ever achieved anything at all.

"I know that. I'm just saying that it could be a lot worse. We can easily work around this. In some parts of the world, a thirteen-year-old having a baby wouldn't be considered odd at all," Venus offered an alternative perspective.

"How can you accept all this?" Leo asked, though his voice sounded rather shocked, as though the woman had betrayed him somehow.

"I haven't really. After all, my son and daughter committed incest. I'm just trying my best to see the positive side to everything, then maybe one day I can truly understand it," Venus admitted. It was true. She found it hard to say the things she had said, but she voiced them anyway in the hopes that she would eventually convince herself that everything was okay. Leonardo calmed down and started to consider thinking positively as well.

"…Do you think that we did something wrong when we raised Raph and Diana?" Leo suddenly asked, starting to blame himself for the situation they were in.

"They're old enough to make their own decisions now," Venus was rather blunt.

"Even if they're the wrong ones?"

"Leo… There's no point in discussing this. What's done is done," Venus tiredly sighed, not wanting to continue playing the 'blame game'.

"…I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier," Leo apologised about the accusations he had made previously that night. He wanted to go to bed on a good note and not have to deal with the conversation in the morning.

"I should be apologising. I should have told you everything," Venus admitted, also wanting peace.

"Then I guess we're both stupid then," Leo stated with a smirk. He forced a little giggle and a grin out of Venus.

"I guess so," she finally agreed with him.

* * *

A light morning mist hung low and spun through the tall trees. Dewdrops were sprinkled on the grass, ferns and leaves, slowly being evaporated by the rising sun. Donatello just hoped that they weren't too wet, as a cooked breakfast sounded appetizing. Searching at the base of the trees surrounding their lair, Don shuffled his feet in an attempt to find some dried spindly twigs and leaves in order to start a small fire. An uncomfortable plodding could be heard close by. Don stopped his task in time to see Diana hobbling towards him. "You should be resting; gathering your strength," Don advised her.

"How can I gain my strength if I'm sitting around all day?" Diana retorted, finally making her way by his side.

"Your leg must be getting better then," Don commented while raising an eye-ridge.

"Still hurts though," Diana grunted. Seeing that she was quite exhausted and in some pain, Don placed the small pile of leaf litter he had gathered onto the ground before assisting the girl into a sitting position.

"Why did you walk all this way?" Don wondered.

"I wanted to tell you something," was Diana's reply.

"You could have simply asked Raph to pass on a message," Don said, knowing that the teenage boy never seemed to be too far off, especially now that Diana was both injured and pregnant.

"I wanted to tell you myself… without Raphael," Diana said softly. Donatello finally got the hint that the girl had wanted to speak to him in private. He slowly sat down beside her knowing that the message must have been rather important, especially since she walked through pain in order to find him.

"What is it then?" Don patiently asked.

"I want an abortion."

_To be continued… _  



	20. Baby Talk

Chapter Twenty: Baby Talk. 

"What?" Donatello found himself asking despite clearly hearing Diana's statement.

"I don't want this baby. I want an abortion," the girl repeated, her voice still as sincere.

"But why?" Don was shocked.

"I just… I'm not ready. I'm really scared," Diana admittedly whispered.

"What are you scared about?" Don inquired, wanting to learn more as to why she was feeling this way.

"The pregnancy. Giving birth."

"But Diana, that's only a small part of it. Yeah, I admit that it will be painful, however all of that won't matter once the egg comes out and eventually hatches," Donatello explained. Being male, he obviously couldn't speak from personal experience. However he did know, from general knowledge and from Venus, that most new mothers usually felt that the pain of childbirth was worth it in the end once they could hold their long-awaited child in their arms.

"But what if I die?" Diana fearful asked.

"You won't die!" the adult instantly denied.

"But what if I do?" She was still worried about the possibility.

"Well, for starters, we now have Dr Aquel and Andrew on our side if serious medical treatment is needed. Also, it's not like Mike and I are new at delivering babies. And think about your mother; she's successfully had four kids now and she didn't have as much help or guidance," Don tried his best to quell her unfounded fears.

"Mum was older…" Diana pointed out. The girl remembered when Venus had Iris and Gabriel. The eggs were so big! Diana couldn't even conceive how a body as small as hers would produce something as large as that.

"You know, maybe you should talk to her about this. I may not have been there at the time, but I bet your mother was experiencing the same feelings as you when she was pregnant with her first child," Donatello said, feeling as though he couldn't answer all of the girl's problems due to his lack of experience. Since he was being held captive at the Pentagon at the time, Donatello honestly didn't know if Venus was feeling the exact same way as her daughter. Don just assumed that Venus was scared and apprehensive. After all, Venus was the first ever female of their species. Venus would have had no guidance as to what was happening with her body, as she was the first one to ever go through that ordeal. But Diana was luckier. She had the privilege of learning from her mother, that is, if she ever built up the courage to accept her condition and face her problems directly.

"It's not just that…" Diana muttered. She paused for a little while, knowing how her next sentence would sound. "I, I want a life. I don't want to do this. Well, at least not yet. This baby… it will ruin my life," Diana murmured. She lowered her head, feeling ashamed with herself. She knew it sounded incredibly selfish, but she couldn't deny those thoughts in her mind.

"Why do you think it'll ruin your life?" Don inquired. He had a fair idea of what the answer would be, but he was curious as to what arguments the girl was going to use.

"Well… I just want to be an ordinary teenager, you know?"

"Diana, you're not an ordinary teenager…" Don reminded the girl of that obvious fact.

"Yeah, but, I wanna be a ninja, not a mother," Diana restated.

"You can be both!" Donatello insisted, not wanting the girl to give up on motherhood because of her studies. "For example, look at your own mother. Yes, she's had several children, but that doesn't mean that she can no longer fight. In fact, Venus could probably beat me!" Don explained further.

"But she was a really good fighter before she had kids. Like, I've still got a long way to go," Diana kept making comparisons.

"Um… Who told you that?" Don quietly wondered. A little and rare, cheeky smile swept across his face. "Now, don't tell your mother that I said this, but when she was seventeen… she was horrible! She had some strengths, but she made huge mistakes all the time. She only really started to improve after she had you and Raph," Don spoke honestly. Diana remained silent, thinking over what her uncle had said. But she somehow wasn't convinced. She couldn't shake that uneasy feeling that continued to plague her mind.

"…I still want an abortion," Diana whispered, despite everything Donatello had spoken to her about. She couldn't think of a decent reason; it was simply a feeling.

"You know what I think the real problem is?" Don started, his voice incredibly serious when compared to the light-hearted jokes and confessions he had shared a minute ago.

"What?" Diana wondered, curious as to what his thoughts were.

"You're thinking about the baby from a human's perspective," Don hypothesized.

"What's that supposed to mean?" The girl was confused.

"It's like what I spoke about last night. What you see on television and read in magazines doesn't relate to our species. I believe that you think that you're not ready for this baby because humans in your situation would encounter many problems. Having a baby at thirteen would jeopardise a human's career, education, future social life and love prospects. But you don't really have those problems. Yes, your father, in particular, places great importance on learning ninjitsu, but… Hmm… How should explain this?" Donatello stopped for a second so he could gather his thoughts before finally continuing.

"When we were young, Master Splinter taught us ninjitsu firstly for self-defense reasons, and secondly to fight for justice. Our agenda has changed since then. We no longer really go out of our way to fight crooks, and on the rare occasions where we do run into trouble, people use tranquilizer dart guns on us and, well, ninjitsu isn't too useful unless you're extremely good at dodging. While I don't really want to discredit what Leonardo is doing, as long as you can defend yourself decently, then that's really all the ninjitsu you'll need to know. It's more of a family tradition now than anything else. Trust me when I say this; for this clan, having a baby is far more important than learning ninjitsu," Donatello summarised.

"I don't want to feel useless…" Diana whispered. She had always desired to be a good warrior; striving to be as competent in ninjitsu as the elders of the clan. She didn't want to be the turtle who was always in danger and needed protection. She hated the fact that she froze up during important fights. There was just so much more she wanted to learn before giving up her life for another individual.

"Believe me, you're _not_ useless!" Donatello emphasised, getting slightly frustrated that she wasn't seeing the situation the same way as him.

"But… I want to live my own life," Diana repeated what she had said before.

"And you will! Diana, listen. You'll have two months before the pregnancy will really start to show, and then after that you'll have a quite a bit of time for yourself while the egg is being incubated. So you'll have some time to prepare yourself for this. And once the turtle hatches, if you want a ninjitsu lesson while the baby's sleeping, then I'm sure someone will keep an eye on him or her. And don't forget you'll also have Raph helping you out. You know, with humans, it's quite rare for the boy to stick around. But I've seen how keen Raphael is on becoming a father, and he won't ever make you feel abandoned," Don encouraged, explaining the amount of support she and the baby would have. His last sentence caused him to ponder about another issue related to the problem. "I'm assuming you haven't spoken to Raph about wanting an abortion?" It wasn't a question. As much as he wished that Diana were still communicating with Raph, Don sadly knew her well enough to know that she was still being secretive.

"I don't want him to know," Diana whispered, preparing herself for the obvious rebuttal from her uncle.

"It's his child too. He should definitely be part of this decision," Don seriously told his niece.

"But it's my body!" Diana argued, believing she should have the most say about the situation.

"Yes, and you'll be killing his child. Put yourself in his position for a second. How would you feel?" Donatello strongly questioned. There wasn't even the hint of a smile on his face, only seriousness.

"But… it's just an egg," his niece weakly reasoned. Donatello sighed; he had heard this argument so many times in the media.

"Diana, it doesn't matter whether you believe the organism living inside the egg is alive or not. The point is that you're going to kill the _potential_ for life. Diana, life is all we know. By having an abortion, you're effectively saying to your unborn child, 'I do not believe you're worthy of living'," Don explained.

"But what if it's deformed… like Morpheus?" Diana asked carefully, not knowing how the adult would respond to hearing the name of his unspoken son. The thought of the child he murdered rattled him slightly, but he took a quick breath and tried his best to talk about the topic with an analytical mind.

"Firstly, if the baby has any deformities, then you won't know until it has hatched. So if you choose to have an abortion because of this reason, then you risk killing a perfectly normal child. Secondly, how can you place a value on life? In humans, yes it's a shame that some people are born with AIDS or a genetic abnormality such as Down Syndrome, but you should never deem them unfit to even experience life. They _do_ find happiness despite their problems, and I'm sure if you ever asked someone in person under those circumstances, I bet that they would be grateful for every moment of their life, just like everyone else," Don carefully explained, repressing some of the memories of Morpheus when they came to mind.

"So you won't help me?" Diana asked, quickly realising that she may be alone in her decision.

"I will help you care for the baby, but I will definitely not help you in getting an abortion," Don stated firmly.

"Fine! Then I'm going to see Dr Aquel!" Diana announced with determination.

"She won't help you get an abortion either," the adult quickly mentioned. Diana gave him a look of shock. Dr Aquel was her second choice as a person to go to for help.

"I… I thought she was on our side?" The girl was confused.

"She's on the side of our species. There's a difference. Aquel wants to see our clan grow in size, and I don't think she has any plans in destroying something she had a hand in creating."

"But it's her fault I'm in this position in the first place! She should at least offer to fix things!" Diana started to whine, feeling as if the entire world was against her.

"Yes, it's her fault. It's also Yesmal's, Raph's and your own fault as well. It's everyone's fault but the baby's… and yet ultimately it's the baby that will be punished the most," Donatello said, though his words came out more harshly than he had intended.

"At least tell me someone who might be able to help me get an abortion," Diana started to plead; tears beginning to build up over her eyes. Donatello sighed, knowing that it was going to be hard for her to simply take 'no' for an answer.

"Diana… I don't even know if it's possible. No one has ever done an abortion on a regular turtle! I know that I personally wouldn't have a clue on what to do. There's only four scientists in the world that even know what the inside of our reproductive system looks like! I know Aquel won't help. Welner certainly won't either. I don't even know whether Yesmal's still in the country… also he's smart enough to know that if he dared to perform the procedure, then he'll have an angry Raphael on his heels. Which leaves Dr Quease, the man whom is an old enemy from way back who used to work for Dragon Lord, you know, the reptile that brutally murdered your mother's mentor? Quease has done some atrocious things in the past. He's cloned us, created weapons that can disintegrate your body on contact, and in recent years he has dissected Raphael's father and sold his shell to Bonesteel. …Do you really want to hand your body over to him?" Don explained softly at first, but the longer he spoke, the more riled up he became. Diana had heard all the stories about Dr Quease before, so much so that her uncle's harsh words no longer took effect. The girl simply rolled her eyes, sick of the conversation that clearly wasn't going in her direction.

"Whatever…" Diana darkly muttered as she sorely moved herself into a standing position. She was about to walk away but Don stopped her by gently grabbing her hand. Diana stared him in the eyes for a second, only to notice a sense of sadness. Whatever anger he was experiencing had quickly disappeared. Now there were only his true feelings.

"Diana, just wait a sec… I… With Morpheus, there's not a day that goes by where I don't wonder what he'd be like today. I regret what happened to him… and I guess that I don't want you to feel the same way," Donatello admitted softly. What he had said came straight from his heart, and Diana knew it.

"But it's different with Morpheus… He died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome," Diana still couldn't help but compare her situation once again, as though it was now an automatic response.

"…It's really not that different…" Don whispered truthfully, wondering if he should tell her the entire story. However, he quickly thought against it. Now simply wasn't the time. "Diana… Circumstances change, and in the future, you might be ready to have a baby, so just make sure you don't view your past as a mistake. That's all," Don summarised. He finally had nothing more to say. Diana stared at him for a few moments before giving him a nod to show that she understood. Satisfied, Don slowly let go of her hand, allowing Diana to tediously walk back towards their lair.

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Donatello felt guilty about sharing Diana's secrets, but this time he knew he didn't have much of a choice. Fearful that the girl might track down Dr Quease on her accord, Don tipped off Leo, Mike and Venus on the fact that she was contemplating having an abortion. With her injured leg, it was doubtful that she would make the long journey to the campsite or any other form of human civilisation, but being as stubborn as her father, Don wouldn't put it past her. There was also the risk of her dragging either Iris or Gabriel along with her, as she would most likely want a companion for safety reasons if she did decide to go ahead and meet with one of the scientists. Being the one adult she trusted, Donatello felt responsible for her well-being, but he also wanted to maintain that rare and open friendship that they shared. So naturally he told the other adults to play dumb about the matter, and simply keep a close watch on her movements.

Unsettled by the news, Venus knew that she couldn't avoid the topic completely with her daughter. She had been meaning to speak to her about the baby anyway. The time for their discussion came later on that day in the afternoon. Diana had settled down in front of the television, obviously having nothing else to do due to her lack of mobility. From Venus' position in the designated food preparation area, she could tell that Diana was incredibly troubled simply by her body language and facial expression. Raphael didn't seem to be anywhere close by. In recent days, the teenage boy wasn't getting much of a response from Diana, so he usually dropped in to see how she was going, only to head off once the conversation had quickly become dry.

At that particular moment, Venus was busy gutting the fish that Raph had caught on one of those expeditions he took just to avoid the awkward atmosphere at the lair. She was surprised that Iris had offered to help her prepare for dinner. Venus smiled at the energetic child, glad that Iris had finally decided to take on more responsibility. She had noticed that Iris' attitude had changed after their recent ordeal with being separated and caught. All of the children had grown up from the experience, but Iris and Gabriel were the only ones who developed positive changes in their behaviour.

"Thank you for helping me, Iris," Venus said, making sure to praise her usually naughty daughter. The little girl only smiled in response, causing the edges of her yellow bandanna to crinkle slightly from the movement in her raising cheeks. "Diana can help me with the rest of this. But I need you to do a special job for me."

"What's that?" Iris inquired, eager to help.

"I need you to find your uncle, Donatello, and ask him whether any vegetables are ready to be harvested, and if any can be included in tonight's dinner? Can you remember all that?" Venus asked. In reality, she simply wanted to take the opportunity to speak to Diana alone, however she didn't want to discourage Iris in the process by ignoring her. So instead, she tried to make Iris feel useful.

"Yep!" Iris said while giving a huge nod. The girl quickly bolted off before Venus had the chance to tell her where she might find Don. Sighing at how excitable the child was, Venus shook her head and simply figured that the longer Iris took, the better it was for her and Diana. Without wasting any time, Venus picked up her basket of fish and wandered over to where her other daughter was sitting.

"Want to help me prepare the rest of the fish?" Venus offered. Diana knew it was more of a rhetorical question. Bored of staring at the television screen all day, the girl agreed to help if only to occupy her mind on something else. Venus quickly gave her a knife and one of the fish before swiftly getting to work.

"So how are you holding up?" Venus casually asked a general question.

"My leg's getting better," Diana answered, slicing into her first fish.

"I meant with the baby," Venus clarified.

"Yeah, I thought that's what you meant…" Diana murmured, not sure if she wanted to speak about the subject. "I'm okay," she sighed.

"Really?" Venus knew that her daughter was holding back.

"Yeah." The girl quickly focused her attention elsewhere as her eyes locked onto the fish she was holding in her hands. With a precision that could have only been developed over months of experience, she carefully scraped off the scales of the fish with her knife.

"I remember when I was pregnant with Raphael… I was petrified," Venus continued on with the conversation, hoping that Diana might respond better if she offered some information about herself first.

"Really?" The girl sounded slightly surprised. "Me too," she softly admitted.

"It's alright to feel that way. It's natural," Venus said as pulled another fish from the basket. "Do you have any questions? I know I did when I was in your position," Venus inquired. She didn't want to force the conversation or let on that she knew Diana's plans concerning an abortion. But she didn't want to lose the moment either, and so she tried her best to just sound casual and caring.

"I have heaps… but I don't know which one to ask first," Diana murmured. Venus could easily detect that hint of sadness in her daughter's voice.

"Thankfully that feeling will pass," Venus told her.

"How? When?" Diana sighed, feeling as though she was constantly tied down with her problems. She longed for the day when the world would seem clearer.

"I found I gained a lot of perspective during the incubation process. I was physically free to move about, do some of the things I had been meaning to do, and basically prepare myself for when the baby hatches," Venus recalled her past emotions on the matter.

"But what about after it hatches?" the girl couldn't help but fearfully wonder.

"What about it?" Venus wanted to know exactly what she was referring to.

"How much free time do you have? I remember with Iris and Gabriel, you seemed to be, well, really busy," Diana noted as she reached over and grabbed another fish to work on.

"That was because I had twins, so I had double the amount of work. You and Raphael were much easier to handle," Venus said, holding no secrets. "But truthfully, yes, it gets very hard sometimes to remain calm and feel in control. A lot of the time I just felt too exhausted to feel much of anything else. But it's definitely worth it. There are just so many little moments that you remember forever. Children do bring a lot of joy into your life," Venus subtly added.

"…I don't think I'm ready," Diana sighed. She stopped scraping the fish for a moment, as though she had been overwhelmed with a breath of sadness, only to have it pass through her, settle, and disappear as suddenly as it came.

"I felt that way as well," Venus admitted.

"No, I mean, everything's so unexpected," Diana restated her words, not accepting the fact that someone else could relate to her situation. Venus knew she was starting to become stubborn. Donatello had warned her about this. She had to make the girl listen, and not simply hear what she wanted to hear. It was a sneaky little game involving an equivalent trade; where Venus would say something personal, and feeling obliged, Diana would hopefully admit something in return.

"As I said, I felt that was as well. You know, as much as it hurts to admit this, Raphael, Iris and Gabriel weren't really planned," Venus said, offering up more information before the girl completely turned away.

"What about me?" Diana asked. For the first time in her life she wondered if she had been a mistake.

"You were definitely planned," Venus quickly reassured her. "But it doesn't really matter, as in the end I have four wonderful children. I suppose the one I had the worst time coming to grips with was with Iris. It took me a while to figure out how things would be, especially with Mike. But, although it's scary, you just… make things up as you go along. There's no real right or wrong when it comes to children, and most of the time things work out alright in the end anyway," Venus summarised, hoping to calm Diana's natural fears.

"Really?" Diana wondered. Her mother made everything sound so laid-back and easy, which completely contrasted with everything she had heard before. It was then that Diana realised that it was mixture of the two. Hard moments would be relieved with the joyous and fun times, just like life in general.

"It's natural for a first-time mother to be… a little paranoid. But I just want you to know that you're allowed to take your time in adjusting to things. However, you don't have to be alone when facing these things either. You can ask me for help any time you want," Venus reassured the girl. Diana stayed silent for a moment as she grabbed another fish. Venus did the same a few seconds later.

"Everyone keeps telling me that," Diana muttered, getting tired of hearing the contradiction. Her sudden change in tone surprised Venus a little.

"Don't you believe us?" Venus questioned.

"Well, everyone says that, before turning around and telling me that I'll be doing most of the work," Diana said rather forcefully. Getting frustrated, she cut into the fish too deep by accident. She paused for a second, realising her mistake, before gaining some composure once again.

"Diana, I _will_ help you. And I'm positive that Raphael will as well. If the baby is crying in the middle of the night, then I will also be awake. If the baby needs to be minded while you have a break, then I will do that. If the baby makes a mess, then I'll be right beside you cleaning it up. What we meant by saying that 'you'll be doing most of the work' is that you can't simply hand the baby over to us and expect to have nothing else to do with it. It is _your_ baby, after all. You and Raph will be the ones who will be with it most of the time, but the rest of us will be with you as well. And, although it seems a long way off now, soon you'll find that you won't need us that much at all," Venus explained; only hoping that she made things clearer. Once again, Diana remained silent, simply taking the time to concentrate on what her hands were doing.

"I understand," Diana suddenly spoke up. She put herself into her parent's position. As Venus had said earlier, they had raised four children before. Being completely honest with herself, Diana knew that it was unfair for them to hold all of the responsibility in raising her child, especially when they weren't at fault. Her parents had done enough for her and her siblings already, and now Diana knew it was the time that she faced the truth. This was her baby, not theirs.

"You're older than you think you are," Venus observed, noticing that Diana was finally accepting the truth.

"I feel too old…" Diana whispered.

"I'm sorry that things went this way. Having your first child should be a happy occasion," Venus said with extreme sympathy. The girl didn't say anything in return. Instead she started to think of her situation in a more serious and responsible perspective. Venus watched as Diana started to scrape the fish more slowly, obviously dwelling in her own thoughts. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to you so I could get your opinion on something," Venus introduced another topic.

"What is it?" Diana was curious.

"Well… you know how Don and I intend to have a baby together through IVF?"

"Yes."

"Leo and I discussed it last night, and we thought it would be best if it was planned so that the baby will hatch a few months after yours. Basically I thought it would be nice if your child had a little playmate when he or she grows up. But by doing that, I may be busy with my own child sometimes, so if you're really uncomfortable with that idea and you want our undivided attention, then we can easily postpone it-"

"-No. It's fine," Diana interrupted her mother's explanation. She didn't want to interfere with her parents' plans. At that moment, Diana felt kind of selfish for wanting to be the centre of attention all the time. After speaking to her mother, Diana started to realise that maybe her problems weren't the worst in the world. Things would one day get better, and her life would develop a sense of normalcy once again even though it would be infinitely different from how she was living now. In a way, Diana really appreciated the fact that her mother was already thinking about the quality of life her baby would have. "I like that idea," Diana admitted softly. Venus smiled, glad that the girl was wise enough to finally start seeing the wider picture. There was a rather lengthy pause, as though both turtles were satisfied with what they had discussed. However it wasn't long till Venus remembered another important issue.

"I've noticed you've been avoiding Raph. You should speak to him. I'm sure he'd love to know what you're thinking," Venus hinted.

"Is there any more fish?" Diana asked as soon as her mother finished her sentence. Venus looked over towards her only to notice that the girl didn't have anything else to physically do. The adult then glanced over into her basket, and sure enough there were no more fish to prepare. Venus sighed. It was clear that Diana wanted to change the topic. Venus felt that her daughter had gained a lot during their little chat, but the girl had reached her limit. Diana wasn't ready to deal with Raphael just yet. No longer having an excuse to continue with the conversation, Venus disappointedly shook her head while she stood up.

"Dinner will be ready in about half an hour," Venus told Diana, before she picked up the basket and slowly left her side.

_To be continued…_


	21. Prospects

Chapter Twenty-One: Prospects.

Two days had passed since Diana had questioned the future of her baby. The adults of the clan weren't completely certain that she had given up on the idea of having an abortion, however they knew she wasn't going to take the decision lightly. Assured that she wasn't going to run off without warning, Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo took the time to focus on other problems, such as establishing another site to grow their much needed crops.

With the prospect of having an additional two turtles within the family, Don was concerned about the number of crops they had. To ensure that there would be enough food for everyone, especially if one plantation failed, Leonardo decided that it would be best to simply start growing vegetables at a new site, just to be safe. Having more crops spread across the landscape meant more work, but Raphael was more than old enough to help out in maintaining their food source, while Gabriel had already started learning about agriculture.

Wanting to plant vegetables in a different area entirely, Don, Leo and Mike set off in search of an ideal location. It wasn't long till they all grew weary. Every patch of earth looked the same. Leonardo and Michelangelo didn't exactly know what they were looking for. They simply thought they could grow the plants they wanted just about anywhere. But Don kept them moving, saying that the sites his brothers' had suggested were too damp, too dry or too shadowy.

Slowly getting a headache, Leonardo scanned his eyes across the ground and part way up an approaching slope. He stopped suddenly, causing Don and Mike to do the same. A pile of leafy branches outlined a small structure. The trees may have been rather dense in this particular area, but it still didn't hide the unnatural formation. The wooden walls were painted in a khaki camouflage pattern, while some green netting with leaves and sticks woven into it was strewn across the top and allowed to drape haphazardly towards the ground. Leo raised an eye-ridge.

"What's that supposed to be?" Mike said what Leonardo was thinking.

"A camouflaged hut. They're filming a documentary about us, remember?" Don reminded the two wary, yet amused turtles.

"They call that camouflage?" Leo muttered to himself, shaking his head. Before the blue-wearing turtle could say anything else, Donatello was already heading towards the manmade structure.

This time Dr Aquel wasn't taken unawares when Donatello opened the door and popped his head in. As soon as she noticed the three turtles in the vicinity, she knew the purple-wearing turtle would pay her a visit. Gradually becoming used to their unrestrained presence, the female scientist returned the grin that Don had expressed upon seeing her. "I see you're still working here," Donatello stated the obvious.

"Yes," Aquel answered before she was distracted by the sight of Leonardo and Michelangelo, both of which had appeared behind Don's figure.

"I'm sure you remember Leonardo and Michelangelo," Don introduced, noticing the scientist's apprehensive reaction upon citing his brothers at close range. The two turtles nodded their heads in greeting as their names were mentioned. Dr Aquel just smiled back, as she wasn't entirely sure on what to say. "Mind if we come in?" Don kindly asked. Before Aquel had time to either accept or reject the offer, the three turtles took it upon themselves to enter the cramped temporary quarters. Seeing them enter, Dr Aquel scooted along the bench to allow them room, fearing that she'd somehow be squashed if she did otherwise. Before she knew it, she was thigh to thigh, elbow to elbow with Donatello. She felt rather uncomfortable being so close to him, even though she knew her life wasn't in danger. But she still couldn't wash away the fear that she had held for so long. However, she found some comfort in the fact that their movements were innocent; they were just simply trying to fit into the hut, not to get close enough to harm her.

"Do you know if Sarah's still in town?" Michelangelo asked out of curiosity. He knew that Donatello was wondering the same thing, even though his brother would prefer to remain silent on the topic. Michelangelo might have held some animosity towards the woman after she had dated Don, but since the turtles had reconciled, Mike just wanted to go back to being simply friends.

"No, she left a little while ago. She helped us out quite a bit with the documentary though," Sarah gave them the news. Mike nodded while Don held a sad look in his eyes. They didn't know if they'd ever see her again, now that she'd moved on with her life. Donatello couldn't decide whether that was a good thing or not. Regardless, he kept his feelings of both relief and sadness from the scientist, and quickly moved on with the conversation.

"So, how is documentary going?" Don inquired.

"Good. Good so far. We've got some really exceptional footage, particularly of your reunion," Aquel informed them, still feeling slightly claustrophobic around the large, mutant turtles.

"Reunion?" Leo wondered what she was referring to.

"Back when Yesmal released you. By accident we were testing out one of the cameras outside, and we managed to catch it all on film. …It's really quite something. It's quite emotional," Aquel explained.

"I didn't even notice you were nearby…" Leonardo murmured, quite disturbed at how distracted he must have been at the time.

"Well you had other things to worry about at the time. But since then, we haven't been able to catch you on film at all. And while we could head closer to where I heard your lair is located, I don't want the rest of crew to leak that information, and I also don't want to intrude into your privacy. I just want you guys to be natural, that's all," Aquel said, starting to feel more comfortable with her company.

"We're not exactly the extroverted type," Don commented, starting to question whether it was a good idea to have video cameras trying to follow their every move.

"Speak for yourself," Mike grinned, excited by the whole concept.

"Aquel…" Leonardo started.

"Please, call me Susan," the woman corrected.

"Susan… To be honest, I don't know if I'm entirely comfortable with this whole idea. I know you've spoken to Don and the others about it, but… Well, where is this all going?" Leonardo critically questioned. He wanted a straight, honest answer.

"Are you worried because you can't trust me?" Susan wondered.

"No. It's not that. I'm just confused as to what the end result would be. What good is it to make a documentary on us?"

"It gives people an insight into your lives," Aquel explained.

"And how does that help us?" Leo continued to question.

"Because people fear what they don't understand. Now that you're no longer in captivity, we really need to promote the idea that you need to be protected and left alone. If everyone can watch you from their own living rooms, then there's no real need to place you in a zoo," Aquel answered, hoping her motives were understood. She nervously rubbed her hands together, hoping that the turtles could trust her. She no longer intended them any harm, and she desperately wanted to make things up to them, if they allowed her a chance.

"But what's stopping people from coming here?" Leo wondered.

"This is a national park and you're on protected land. You'll also be listed as a protected species. Don't worry, the law will be on your side," the woman reassured them. Leonardo sighed, knowing that he was allowing his fears to take over. He knew the scientist wouldn't double-cross them and that she'd do the job to her best ability, but after everything that had happened in their lives, he just had to make sure that his family was safe.

"I guess I'm feeling a little apprehensive about all of this because I don't get much of a say about how we're being represented," Leonardo explained. It was true; he felt like he didn't have any control. The fate of their species seemed to rest in human hands. They could flee and hide, and start all over again in a new area, but ultimately the underlying problems would remain. But Leonardo had absolutely no say in what happens in the scientific community or in the courts, and so he had to rely on his species' only enemy; man.

"Well, what are you expecting, Leo? A personal interview?" Mike sarcastically joshed. Silence quickly followed as everyone in that tiny camouflage hut took in the words that Mike had carelessly said.

"Susan? Would it actually be possible for us to do an interview instead?" Donatello started to toy with the idea.

"You know, I would have never have thought of that," Aquel commented, shaking her head in disbelief as to why she hadn't considered the possibility before.

"Thanks, Mike," Don said, also shocked that the best idea of all came from one of Mike's lame jokes.

"I was just kidding…" Mike murmured, quite stunned that they had taken his light-hearted words so seriously.

"Yeah, and for once you've opened your mouth at the right time," Leo quickly joked.

"Hey!" Mike grumped, a little bit offended by what Leo had implied.

"But is it possible for us to do it?" Leonardo wondered. All eyes turned towards the scientist, sitting at the end of the bench.

"I'm not sure. I mean, if I film it, I'm not sure if people will think it's a hoax," Aquel tried to think everything through.

"What if it was done by a respected reporter? On an unbiased, serious show that people can trust to be accurate?" Don put the idea forward.

"Nothing news-worthy is unbiased, Don," Leonardo cynically corrected.

"What about a show like '60 Minutes'?" Michelangelo suggested.

"Maybe," Donatello considered the idea.

"But what about all the security measures? Even if the press doesn't think that we're merely joking, there's no way they'll send someone over to meet you guys face to face," Aquel raised her concerns. For a few seconds the turtle felt defeated, until Leo thought of a solution.

"What if we were caged?" Leonardo wondered.

"You'll be willing to do that?" Aquel was surprised, considering how much she knew the turtles hated being captured.

"Only if I'm allowed out once the interview is over," Leo clarified.

"I'll be willing to do that too," Donatello offered his services.

"Can I join in?" Mike asked, feeling a little excluded. "It was my idea…" he mumbled.

"You know, this could actually work…" Aquel said quietly while her mind raced with exciting thoughts and ideas. The turtles could only smile in response. It seemed that they might have a say in things after all.

* * *

Diana quietly limped away from the lair, her leg being less sore than what it had been in previous days. She shuffled past the tall, winding trees, with the ferns on the forest floor lightly brushing against her thighs and shins. The girl didn't have a destination in mind. A part of her wanted to strengthen her leg muscles, to work through the pain, and yet at the same time, she wanted the sharp, burning sensation to overtake her mind. She had become so numb through all of her problems, that now she just wanted to feel something, anything, even if it was just the pain in her healing leg. 

Subconsciously she walked in the direction of the closest stream. It was a beautiful, quiet and peaceful location, where the earth's natural colours shimmered in the dappled sunlight. The environment around the stream was so vibrant, as the water seemed to only bring out a feeling of freshness and rejuvenation. Diana wasn't the only one in her family that knew of this location. The turtles frequently visited this spot to collect fresh water and sometimes to spear some fish. It didn't surprise her that another member of her family was there, although she was annoyed that she couldn't visit the stream in solitude. Diana considered turning around, heading off into another direction, but she wanted to take a break from walking and desired nothing more than to dip her sore leg into the cool, running water. Sighing, she kept hobbling forward, the stream's playful beckoning too powerful to ignore.

"Good to see you up and walking," Michelangelo commented as his niece approached. He was sitting on top of a large boulder beside the stream, simply soaking in the warm rays of the sun. Diana didn't say anything at first. Instead she went straight into the water and allowed her leg to feel the cool sense of weightlessness, while she maintained her balance on the other.

"I got tired of watching soap operas on TV all day," Diana eventually murmured. She twirled her hands around in the water, loving the feeling of it flowing in-between her fingers. "I thought you would have been fishing," Diana said, wondering why Mike was in the area.

"Nah, Raph did that earlier. I just come here to think sometimes," Mike stated.

"About what?" Diana was curious, suddenly enjoying his company.

"Things," Mike absentmindedly generalised. The girl frowned; noticing that the adult seemed to be mentally far off in another dimension. Diana didn't say anything. Instead she continued to stare at him, hoping that he'd elaborate. It took a few seconds until Michelangelo noticed. He gave her a little smile, finally realising that she was anxious to hear more. "I keep thinking about that interview that's coming up," Mike confirmed.

"From what I've heard about it, it sounds exciting," Diana said, allowing herself to grin a little. Ever since the turtles had agreed to it, the interview had been the main topic of discussion at the lair. Susan Aquel had really impressed them, by pushing the idea forward, first through Andrew, then to the major television broadcast companies. It had only been a few days since they had originally thought of the idea, but already the turtles were seeing some results. It was still in its early stages, but it seemed that an interview was definite, and now it was only a matter of who and when.

"Yeah…" Mike agreed before his thoughts wandered off once again. In truth, while the prospect of an interview was on his mind, there were many other issues as well. One of which was surrounded by an undying sense of guilt. The girl remained quiet, conscious of her uncle's oddly serious state of mind. "Diana… I've been meaning to say this to you for quite a while now. I just wanted to apologise for kissing you. I shouldn't have done that or put you into that situation," Mike said somewhat awkwardly, and yet was incredibly serious at the same time. Diana was taken aback for a moment, mainly because his words had taken her by surprise. She really wasn't expecting him to bring the topic up so suddenly. Diana didn't really know what to say in response.

"Wow… It seems so long ago now," Diana murmured, feeling as though it happened over a year ago. Michelangelo's kiss seemed so insignificant now, especially since larger and more serious problems had taken a hold of her life. With the issues surrounding her relationship with Raphael, then getting captured, freed, shot, then recaptured, her first kiss felt like it was in another era; so far away, like she had dreamt the entire thing. Michelangelo also knew that there were other problems on his niece's mind, but he still needed that closure, which could only be achieved by apologising for his behaviour.

"A lot has happened," Mike acknowledged.

"I've got so much more to worry about now…" Diana whispered while staring off into the distance.

"Do you worry about the baby?" Mike wondered. It was a stupid and obvious question, but he asked it nevertheless just in case Diana wanted to mention her thoughts on getting an abortion.

"Yeah," Diana muttered. She mindlessly swayed her arms around in the water, obviously deep in thought. The adult frowned, unsatisfied with her answer. He couldn't contain himself any longer. Mike wanted to talk openly about it. He needed to know more.

"I shouldn't be telling you this… but I suck at keeping secrets," Mike illogically reasoned. "Don told me that you were considering getting an abortion."

"He did?" Diana didn't know whether she should be shocked, worried or angry. She just blindly believed that Don wouldn't say anything.

"I just wanted to know if you were still thinking about it, that's all," Mike said, trying to be as casual about it as he could. He didn't want the girl to completely shut down on him.

"Are you against me as well?" Diana quickly became defensive.

"Well I can't be for or against you if I don't know what you're planning on doing," Mike shrugged. The turtle just wanted know what her thoughts were, and had no intention of judging her.

Diana remained silent for a few moments. Michelangelo simply waited for her, appreciating that she wasn't going to pointlessly argue, but rather answer the question sincerely. "I have thought about it," Diana admitted. Her voice was so quiet and was filled with so much shame that Mike wondered if he had heard it at all. "I wish I didn't have to give birth to it… but there's no other option. No one knows how to do the abortion that way," Diana continued, telling her uncle that she had given up on the idea of trying to get a scientist to perform the operation. Mike was about to open his mouth to say something, but he immediately stopped when he saw some tears forming in the girl's eyes. He knew then that Diana definitely wasn't taking the decision lightly. With so much pain echoed within her soul, Diana divulged one more shameful secret. "…But I have thought about smashing the egg," Diana wept. She knew those thoughts were selfish and wrong. Yet the image of her hands, grasping that huge egg, and lifting it like it was a huge burden before hurtling it towards the ground, could not leave her head. Michelangelo could only feel sorrow for the girl.

"Don't smash the egg… If you did, then I think it'll be really traumatic," Mike carefully gave her his opinion. He didn't want to lecture the girl, but he couldn't just say nothing. "At that stage you'll be able to see the baby, but it'll be underdeveloped, and then you'll see it die before you're eyes," Mike described in detail, hoping to turn Diana off. He said those words not because he was against abortion, but rather because he was thinking about the girl's mental health, and how it would be severely damaged if she took that messy approach.

"But how else should I do it?" Diana started to sob. She wiped at her tears in frustration. She was sick of crying, but she couldn't stop.

"Are you really that keen on having an abortion?" Mike asked, rather shocked by her amount of determination.

"I don't know. I'm not keen on either option," Diana helplessly admitted. "If you were Raph… how would you feel if I destroyed the egg?" she asked, her voice shivering with uncertainty.

"Why don't you just ask him?" Michelangelo replied seriously. He was quite baffled as to why the girl kept avoiding the father of her child. Mike knew that it would be awkward, but it needed to happen, and he just didn't know why she kept putting it off.

"I want to think things through first before I involve him," Diana said, finally getting back some control over her emotions. Mike sighed and decided that he shouldn't press the issue, since it was obvious that Diana needed to talk to Raph only when she was comfortable with the idea.

"Well, if I was the father, and you went through with this without consulting me, then I'd be devastated," Mike nevertheless went on to answer her original question.

"…Would he ever forgive me?" Diana timidly wondered.

"Well, that's where your problem lies. You might be able to live your life without the baby, but you certainly can't get away from living with Raph. He's always going to be around, Diana. Even if you're no longer in a relationship, he's still a member of this clan," Mike said. He questioned himself as to whether his next inquiry would be too bold. "Do you still have feelings for him?" Mike asked.

"I don't know… Things got awkward, and then all these problems came about… I still care about him though, because he still cares about me," Diana truthfully answered, her voice low and soft.

"I think I can really relate to Raph. I've been there," Mike admitted.

"How so?"

"As much as I hate to say this… but Iris was an unwanted child. When I heard that your mother was pregnant with 'twins' with one of them being mine, I was just so shocked. It really scared me because I felt like I wasn't prepared, and also the fact that your mother had no obligation to keep our egg. But I'm glad she did, and after a while, once I had time to accept everything, I became excited because that was my only chance to ever become a father. Yes, she always gave preference to Gabriel because, fair enough, that was the child she properly had with Leo, but your mother was nice to me and took the time to help me out. I'm just so grateful that, even though it was awkward for her, she went through those hard times, and now I can't imagine what my life would be without Iris," Michelangelo told Diana his story, hoping she would gain some meaning out of it. "In the same way, if it's true that you don't want to continue a relationship with Raph, then that means that this will be the only chance he has of becoming a father," Mike explained.

"But I'm too young for this… even though sometimes I feel really old… Does that make sense?" Diana whispered, her eyes gazing off into the distance while she desperately tried to convey her deepest thoughts.

"It does. I was twenty-eight years old when Iris was born, and even then I felt like I was still a teenager. I can't even imagine how you're feeling."

"Thank you," Diana said with complete sincerity, as though she had just found a sliver of peace.

"For what?" Mike furrowed his eye-ridges, confused as to what she was referring to or what she was thankful for.

"Being honest," the girl stated.

"Do you think the others are lying to you?" Mike was still somewhat confused.

"No, not that. I just thought that Uncle Don would have been more understanding, or at least tried to understand…" Diana trailed off, recalling her last deep and meaningful conversation with him concerning the abortion. "Instead he was just, 'don't do this' or 'don't do that', as though he knows what I'm feeling. You're different. If you don't know something, then you're not afraid to say it,' Diana summarised, appreciating Mike's pure, untainted honesty. Mike nodded his head slowly, finally starting to make some sense of it all.

"I see where you're coming from. So, did you believe that Don would have helped you?" Mike inquired just to confirm his thoughts.

"Kinda. I thought he'd be more… scientific about it. Like he'd just see the baby as a bunch of cells. But I guess I was wrong," Diana sighed at the end of her complaint. Her tears were long gone by now. Instead, she was now seeing the world as the age she was. Bold and inquisitive, she wanted to question the actions and beliefs of others.

"You shouldn't be angry with Donatello for not holding that stance," Mike kindly reminded her. He paused, allowing his subtle smile to fade away from his face as he remembered the past. "There's a lot you don't know about him," he ambiguously concluded.

"Like what?" Diana asked.

"I really shouldn't tell you. In fact, I don't even know if you're father knows this. But… considering the circumstances, I think you would benefit from knowing. Just… keep this to yourself," Mike quickly relented. Withholding information was never one of his strong points.

"What is it?" Diana urged him on, just anxious to know the secret. Michelangelo remained silent for a lengthy amount of time. Diana waited patiently, knowing that what he was about to say was incredibly serious. Mike took deep breaths and stopped himself several times, before finally figuring out how to break the news.

"Don killed Morpheus. He suffocated him," the adult told her straight. "I think we all know deep down that that child… well, Morpheus didn't have much of a future to begin with. But Don seems to still have some feelings of regret, and he keeps wondering 'what if'. His decision wasn't an easy one, and it's one that he can't change. That's why he probably told you to keep the baby. He knows what it's like to kill your own child," Mike fully explained. Diana was stunned, but once the initial shock had passed, she felt sorry for her purple-wearing uncle, and now understood where he was coming from when he had spoken to her earlier. Things started to make some sense to her now.

"…That must have been horrible," Diana whispered, realising how traumatic it must have been for Donatello. She didn't know if she should admire him, or think of him as being cold-hearted, because she knew that she would never be able to kill her own child, face to face. Upon thinking that thought, she experienced a revelation. Finally she understood the comparison. She knew now why Mike said that smashing the egg would be traumatic, and how Don could relate to her situation. It may not have been as dramatic, but like Donatello, she too was planning on killing her child, and now she knew that she didn't have the heart to see the abortion through.

"Yeah," Mike muttered softly in agreement.

"I had no idea…" Diana murmured, still too preoccupied with her own thoughts to say more. "Thank you for telling me… even though you really do suck at keeping secrets," Diana said after some time had passed. Mike involuntarily smiled at his own weakness, just grateful that he didn't regret the fact that he had opened his mouth.

"I thought you needed to know. He may have sounded harsh before, but he does care about you and your feelings, and he doesn't want you to experience the same emotions that he has gone through," Mike restated. Diana gave him a thoughtful look.

"Do you care for me?" she quietly asked.

"Of course. I'm your uncle after all," Mike automatically answered without giving the question much thought.

"But I don't want to call you my uncle anymore," Diana seriously said. Michelangelo stared at the girl, wondering what she meant by her last comment. Once again he found himself quite confused.

"…Are you still angry with me? For what I did earlier?" Mike referred back to his kiss, wanting clarification as to whether that was still an issue with her.

"No, it's not that," Diana reassured him. The female turtle blushed slightly, not really knowing herself what she was trying to say. "Donatello's my uncle, but… I don't want to view you the same way anymore," she nervously clarified. Being unable to physically do many tasks and chores, for the last couple of days, Diana had a lot of time to think over her life. In particular, her future. After hearing the clan's talk about their plans for organised breeding, there was a lot for her to accept. There would come a day where she and Mike might have a child, and while that time wasn't now, she still had to come to terms with that. 'Uncle' was simply a title. Michelangelo was a genetically suitable match for her, more so than Raphael. It still felt wrong, especially considering how much older Mike was than her, but she just wanted to keep an open mind so that maybe one day it might seem normal. She didn't feel the same way about Donatello. Diana would always look to him as a teacher and a friend, but never anything more. Mikey was somehow different.

"Oh! I see…" Michelangelo finally caught on. He suddenly felt extremely awkward. He was flattered and oddly comforted by the fact that she was keeping her relationship options open. Yet he knew that he had to be the adult in the situation. He didn't want to make the same mistake again. Diana was way too young for him, and a small part of him was sickened slightly at the thought of their massive age difference. The girl had now put him into a difficult situation, where he didn't want to completely turn her down, as much as it felt right and wrong to do, but he also had to be responsible. "Diana, this is a very tough, challenging and confusing time for you. I think you need to sort out a lot of problems," Mike carefully hinted.

"I know. I just don't know what I'm going to do with Raphael," Diana answered honestly. She still didn't know if she was going to stay with Raphael, whether that was for both short term and long term.

"Well, only you can answer that," Mike sensibly said, not wanting to get between the two. He had only just recovered from his long-time grudge with Donatello, and now he really didn't want to get into another. "It's just… regardless of what the outcome is between you and Raph… it's going to take me a few years to not think of you as my niece," Mike added, wanting to make sure that there were no misunderstandings. He lied slightly, in that already he was viewing Diana as something other than his niece, but he knew his feeling were dangerous at that point in time, and that it would be best if he waited till she was both completely single and at least eighteen years of age. It would be completely idiotic and irresponsible of him if he did otherwise.

"I understand," Diana agreed, giving him a reserved nod. She knew herself that she was too young to enter a relationship with Mike, but she just wanted to let him know that she was considering the option in the future. However, nothing had been set in concrete, and they both knew that circumstances might change. Michelangelo was quite taken aback by her maturity towards the topic. It was definitely something a normal teenage girl wouldn't have to consider, but he was appreciative that she was trying her best to accept their odd circumstances, as weird and as awkward as it was.

"That's good," Mike said, relieved that they had come to an understanding. The adult fidgeted a bit, feeling awkward about what they had just talked about. But after a few seconds, Mike stopped, hating the feeling. He didn't want to feel awkward around Diana anymore. She was still his niece, at least for the next couple of years. He realised that there was no need to feel uncomfortable, and like Diana, he too had to accept the circumstances and the world he was in. Being brave and pushing through his awkward feelings, he gave Diana a smile. "I think it's time we headed back home. You don't want to get prune fingers and granny feet, do you?"

Diana shook her head and smiled back, glad to see that Mike was back to his old self.

_To be continued…_


	22. Questions and Answers

Chapter Twenty-Two: Questions and Answers. 

Diana's eyelids wavered as though she was in the nexus world between being awake or falling asleep. It was one of those lazy days. The weather was fine, with the sun brilliantly lighting up the forest without the ominous hint of a tropical downfall of rain. Some people might have viewed the day with a renewed sense of energy; trying to make the most of such a great forecast by going to outdoor venues or socialising. But for Diana, it was just so relaxing to lie down on her back, watch the breeze-swept, undulating forest canopy, while soaking in the gloriously warm rays of the dappled sunlight.

With a sigh she closed her eyes, just loving how the heat had blanketed her body. Her smile gradually faded when the surrounding warmth began to fade. Tiredly opening her eyes, she groaned when she saw the silhouette of one of her family members standing over her, blocking the light. "You're in my sun," she murmured, on the brink of falling asleep.

"Is this what you're gonna do all day?" Just from hearing the voice, Diana knew it was Raph.

"Yes. I'm sunning," she smartly answered, as though she was proud of her laziness.

"What are you? A crocodile?" Raph joked.

"No. I'm a turtle," Diana stated the obvious. She groggily blinked her eyes as Raphael decided to lie down beside her. Rocking slightly on his carapace as he got comfortable on the ground, he slipped both hands behind his head and stared up at the canopy, just like his half-sister.

"Nice view from here," he commented.

"Taking a break from working?" Diana asked, knowing that Raph had been helping out lately with setting up the new crop plantations.

"It's more like a permanent break," he murmured, enjoying the sun on his body. He thought it would be hotter, but because the thin canopy moved constantly and broke the beams of light, the heat from the sun was lessened. It was an odd little spot, as while it seemed to be a small clearing from the forest floor, the surrounding trees were tall enough to delicately branch out and just barely cover the vacant space, although a lot of the light still managed to seep through.

"What happened?" Diana questioned.

"Gabe told me off," Raph grumped.

"He what!?" The girl was shocked.

"He told me off," Raph repeated with a smirk planted on his sunlit face. "I was checking the plants for pest insects, when suddenly I noticed that this huge bull ant was on my foot. So as I was hopping around, trying to whack it off, I accidentally knocked over all of the crops we had planted. Gabe saw me do this, got really angry, and yelled at me for a few minutes before finally telling me to leave," the older turtle casually told his tale.

"Gabe yelled at you?" Diana was still surprised. "But Gabe rarely ever yells… Actually, he rarely ever speaks," she muttered, furrowing her eye-ridges.

"You should see him when he's angry," Raph started as his broad smile crept back onto his face. "He pouts and frowns so much, that he develops a monobrow. And he shakes his fists a lot, like he's playing 'rock, paper, scissors'… Oh! Also, his muscles become so taut, that he sometimes lets off a little fart," Raphael smirked, stifling his laughter. Diana was simply left with a perplexed expression on her face.

"Wait a second… Are you making this up?" Diana questioned. She watched as Raphael's body erupted into a fit of shivering giggles. "You are! You are!" she amusingly squealed.

"Was the farting bit too much?" Raph somehow managed to ask in-between his convulsive chuckling.

"You're such a liar!" Diana lightly slapped his shoulder before giving in to his contagious laughter.

"I may be a liar, but at least you're smiling. I haven't seen you do that for quite a while now," Raph grinned, calming himself down. Diana's smile gradually faded as the serious problems that plagued her mind quickly resurfaced.

"You know things have been tough for me lately," Diana murmured.

"So have you thought of any names?" Raphael quietly asked.

"Names?"

"For the baby," he clarified. Diana snapped awake, blinking out of surprise. She couldn't believe that she had never thought about the topic up until now. It was something that any soon-to-be mother would surely be pondering during the course of their pregnancy, and yet it had completely slipped the turtle's mind.

"I haven't thought about it," Diana admitted.

"Really?" Now it was Raph's turn to be surprised. "That's all that's on my mind these days."

Diana couldn't help but find his enthusiasm contagious. "What were you thinking of?" she asked out of curiosity.

"Well, I'm stuck on whether we should follow the traditional theme with either the Renaissance artists or Greek and Roman gods and goddesses… or whether we just go on our own and name the kid something normal for once… like Bill," Raph smirked.

"Bill?" Diana's lip curled out of distaste. "You're kidding, right?"

"What's wrong with Bill?" Raphael childishly pouted. "Or Bob?" Raph added as an afterthought. Diana wasn't convinced. "Yeah, okay. I was only kidding," Raph admitted. Diana quietly smiled to herself, getting used to his little lies. "So do you think it's a boy or a girl?" Raphael wondered. He propped himself up onto one of his elbows, resting his head against his palm. Diana watched as he tentatively reached over with his spare hand, wanting to rest it on her plastron above where the baby was presumed to be developing. She allowed him, closing her eyes for just a moment, remembering how much she missed his little delicate touches; that contact that demonstrated that she was loved and appreciated.

"How should I know?" Diana slyly answered.

Raphael seemed to shrug. "Just wondering if it's a mother's intuition."

"Do you want a boy or a girl?" Diana asked, curious to know if he had a preference.

"I don't mind either way. I just want to be a father." His answer stumped Diana for a few seconds. How could he be so confident? The idea of becoming a parent terrified her. For a while she didn't even know whether becoming a mother was the right choice. Yet here Raph was, bold as ever, just knowing that the future was going to be okay. On some level his confidence soothed her worries, but the fact that they held such different goals and ideals in their life concerned her.

"Raph…" Diana prepared herself for what she was about to say. "Are we going to make it?" she softly uttered her question; her eyes so focused on the canopy above that she seemed to be asking the sky and heavens, rather than her boyfriend.

"As a couple?" Raph said, wanting to make sure he had heard her right. When she didn't respond, Raph surmised that his assumption was correct. "As long as we both love each other, then I don't see how we wouldn't work out," Raph generalised. Diana remained silent, looking at Raphael with a long, remorseful gaze. "You're feelings have changed, haven't they?" Raph sadly observed.

"Where did we go wrong?" Diana whispered.

"It's my fault," Raph muttered. Once again Diana was surprised.

"Why is that?" Diana had to ask. All this time where she had been purposely avoiding him, ignoring his help when offered, and keeping secrets about his baby, she was completely dumbfounded as to why he would be feeling guilty. But soon she remembered how Raphael was a straightforward, mature teen, who always attacked problems with a frontal assault; accepting the consequences for whatever actions he had committed. It was one of the many reasons why she originally admired her half-brother so much.

"It's my fault because I didn't talk to you when I should have. That's when I think we started to drift apart…" Raph explained.

"When? What time are you talking about?" the girl was confused. Ever since they had escaped from captivity, Diana thought that Raph had been extremely open and accommodating, even though she had ignored him for most part.

"Back when we… you know. We never spoke about that incident," Raph said, referring to their first and last sexual encounter.

"Oh," Diana finally understood.

"It was just a confusing time for me. I knew I loved you – and I still do – but I wasn't sure if what we had done was right at the time. I didn't know what to say… but I know now that I should have just spoken to you about it, not left you feeling alienated like I did. I'm sorry…" Raph apologised.

"You shouldn't be the one apologising," Diana quietly said. She felt guilty that Raph was harboring all of the blame as to why they had drifted apart. With going behind his back, avoiding conversation, and not being open with how she felt about their relationship, Diana knew that she was the source of their discontent.

"But I wanted to," Raph sincerely confessed. Humbled by his words, Diana stared into his eyes, her body trembling with guilt.

"Then I guess that I should apologise as well," Diana realised; her maturity starting to shine through.

"You don't have to," Raph said, not wanting his half-sister to feel forced or obligated to give an apology.

"No, I do. Trust me; I owe you one," Diana admitted. She opened her mouth to say more, but she stopped. Could she really admit everything? Did she _need_ to admit everything? "I've been so secretive lately… but I want to let you know that I've thought a lot of things through, and… I'm starting to look forward to being a mum." As broad as it was, that was all she was going to say on the matter. It wasn't about not wanting to be open or truthful, but rather Diana felt that she had moved on. The girl was prepared to tell Raphael about previously wanting an abortion, but was it really necessary to make him worry; to always view their upcoming child as something she had once considered killing? Diana may have had her doubts before, but after seeing Raph's pure enthusiasm and that sparkle of excitement in his eyes, she couldn't even conceive the idea of taking that away from him.

Diana gently looked at the hand that Raph had placed on her plastron. She steadily moved her own hand and interlocked her fingers with his, affectionately massaging the grooves along his knuckles with her thumb. Although Diana had her doubts not only about the baby, but also about her relationship with Raphael, she did still care about him. She could easily give birth to the baby just for Raph's sake and then leave it to be predominantly his responsibility, yet it was Raph himself that stopped her. She knew Raphael had always wished to have known his father, which is why she figured that he was so keen on playing the role himself. Yet in turn, Diana felt it wasn't fair for a child to not know their mother. After speaking to the adults in the clan, Diana realised that she had to stop thinking about herself, as her decisions would soon affect the entire lifetime of another. That was why she wanted to make things work between her and Raphael; she wanted to play a major role in her child's life. She wanted to be the mother, not just someone who did their duty when it came to the survival of their species. Sure, their relationship might eventually fall apart and their efforts to maintain it could go to waste, but Diana was willing to give it a proper try.

"I'm glad to hear that… because we're gonna have the coolest little baby ever! I'm gonna teach him how to wrestle, play football, develop a beer gut – it'll be great!" Raphael playfully joked. Diana grinned in return before quickly tightening her lips into a pout.

"Him?" the girl raised an eye-ridge, questioning the words he used.

"Well, if it's a girl, then you have my permission to teach her all that sissy girly stuff, like ballet," Raph casually said, delicately flicking his thumb over the back of her hand. He was glad to see that she was finally livening up.

"I won't teach her ballet!" Diana protested, also not being very fond of the sport. A small but wicked smile swiftly took hold of her lips. "Besides, guys can learn ballet," Diana slyly reminded him. Raph's eyes went wide for a split second.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no! Not my son!" Raph quickly denied. He played on. "Maybe Gabriel… but not my son. My son will be buff, with the strength of ten men!" Raph proclaimed, trying his best to keep a straight face. He soon failed and started to chuckle at the stereotypical masculine ideals he was parodying. Diana started to giggle as well, causing her to instinctually wrap her arms around Raph. After feeling so isolated over the past couple of days, all she wanted was to once again feel the warmth from a cuddle. Raphael hugged her back before lowering his head so he could affectionately touch noses with her. "So do you think we're gonna make it?" he whispered, gazing hopefully into her eyes.

Diana stared back with mixed feelings. She loved how fast her heart was thudding, relishing the fact that that elusive spark was back, and yet she knew this time she had to be more responsible and rational with the progress of their relationship. "I hope so, Raph," Diana whispered in return. That answer was all Raphael could hope for at that moment. Noses already touching, Raph couldn't resist in giving Diana a soft kiss atop her lips. Diana smiled and kissed him back, loving that no matter what had happened to her, or how their circumstances had altered, Raph's feelings would never change.

* * *

On a misted, cloudy night, the family of turtles and their two closest friends, gathered around the old, moss-covered television set that Donatello, many years ago, had carefully brought back to life. As Diana rested her head against Raphael's broad shoulders, and while Andrew and Aquel popped a champagne bottle to celebrate their hard work, Leonardo anxiously hushed the jittery crowd as he desperately turned the volume up. This was an incredibly important night for all of them – one of those times that could have the potential to shape and change the rest of their lives. A person in their lifetime would only ever encounter only a handful of these precious, pivotal moments. After all, what was life if not just a string of momentous events? For the turtles, it was the time when their friends and relatives had abruptly died; when they were first exposed to society; the day Raphael was born; the moment the boys had met Venus; the hours they spent finally defeating their enemies; and even as far back as the mutation itself. It was fair to say that the turtles did indeed have their fair share of life-altering moments, not all of them necessarily negative. 

So here was another one, except this time the mutants were uncertain as to whether it was going to impact on them in a good or bad way. After weeks of planning and filming the gaps, the interview – their voice and opinion – was going to be eventually broadcast around the world, starting with their original homeland, the United States of America. At first it had been difficult to convince a respected reporter to not only travel all the way to Hawaii, but also to interview what was considered to be an animal. Yet with Andrew's persistence and Aquel's highly regarded expertise and reputation, they managed to not only persuade the targeted reporter that they weren't joking, but also made them realise that they would be utterly stupid to waste the opportunity.

So before the story was snatched by a rival program, the reporter and crew flew in and started to film the interview as little as a few hours after their arrival. Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo had kept their word and remained behind bars - putting absolute faith in their human friends that they wouldn't regret their voluntary submission. But the interview seemed to go well, and like they were promised, the turtles were once again freed. Now with a news story that was likely to win many awards and television ratings, the film crew worked hard to polish up the footage so it could be aired as soon as possible. Sure enough, just after a week, it was being advertised to be aired on the upcoming show.

As the credits rolled from the previous program, all the turtles hushed and stared intently at the small screen, knowing that the moment of truth had finally arrived. Andrew had invited everyone to watch the interview back in his office or in one of the cabins, but the turtles had politely declined, saying that it would be too cramped and they didn't want to get into any trouble due to being so close to human civilisation. So Andrew and Aquel decided to watch the interview at the turtles' lair instead, and to camp overnight in the forest.

"Here it is!" Mike excitedly stated the obvious as the show began to start. Leonardo, becoming a little paranoid and obsessive, turned the volume up another notch.

"Tonight on _60 Minutes_," a voice announced before images and descriptions of the night's stories were displayed. "Racism. It's a turbulent issue that has plagued America for decades. Now, since this country's most recent and shocking report of a pilot being so racist that he refuses to speak to the black box flight recorder, can his hometown recover from the backlash that it has received? Also on _60 Minutes_…" the voice over said as it moved on to the next story. "As water police finally uncover the sought-after, illegal underground syndicate of drug dealers, notoriously known as the Calamari Ring, _60 Minutes_ takes an inside look as to how the investigation and capture of these criminals unfolded. Also on _60 Minutes_…" the voice over repeated once again, while the screen displayed a ticking clock.

"All the ticking is making me anxious," Mike whined, causing Leonardo to quickly hush him. Sure enough, the introduction for their interview was next.

"Living in the depths of Hawaii, surrounded by mystery, disbelief and suspicion, in a world exclusive, the Yesmal's Turtle tells _60 Minutes_ their take on the events that have surrounded their chaotic life," the voice over concluded.

"Looks like we're the last story," Leo mumbled as the show went on to introduce the various reporters.

"Of course we are. Our story will be the most popular, so they've made it last so everyone won't simply change the station once it's over. Instead, viewers will have to sit through the entire program. It's a ratings tactic," Donatello analysed.

"What kind of name is 'Calamari Ring' for a bunch of drug lords?" Raph sniggered, still thinking about the previous stories that were described. Mike grinned.

"Well, it's no more stupid than a bunch of dishonourable ninjas calling themselves, 'The Foot'," Mike replied.

"I've never understood the reasoning behind that name," Venus admitted.

"Maybe bad guys are just losing their touch?" Mike wondered.

"What are you all talking about?" Dr Aquel asked, quite baffled as to what the turtles were referring to. The older mutants just stared at her blankly, not really knowing how to explain themselves.

"Does anyone else want to join me in a drinking game, where every time the words '_60 Minutes_' are mentioned, you have to take a sip?" Andrew completely ignored the surrounding conversation, holding up the opened champagne bottle as an invitation.

"Can I play?" Raphael boldly asked the man.

"No, Raph! You're underage!" Leo stated.

"I'll be responsible!" Raphael argued. Looking at Leo's stern expression, he knew that whatever he said would be futile. So instead he turned towards his mother. "Mum? How 'bout it?" Raph tried his luck, pitting one parent over the other.

"Do as your father says," Venus told him, knowing Raph's obvious tactic. The teenager groaned.

"Don't be so glum, Raph. Alcohol is overrated anyway," Don gave his opinion. Raphael didn't believe him.

"So anyone playing?" Andrew asked again.

"I will," Dr Aquel agreed before picking up one of the glasses the park warden had brought along.

Once again the group fell silent. Some actually wanted to genuinely watch the other stories, while the two humans simply tried to listen out for the key words, glasses at the ready. Getting bored, it didn't take long for Diana and Raphael to quietly murmur loving sentences to each other, and for Iris to quickly discover that her father's shoulder was a good makeshift pillow. Meanwhile, the adult turtles of the clan started to become anxious all over again, except for Michelangelo who seemed to entertain himself by silently observing the subtle smiles and soft-eyed gazes being shared between Andrew and Susan.

A glass and a half of champagne later, the moment everyone had stayed up for had finally arrived. It began straight after a commercial break; opening with some grand sweeping camera shots of Kauai, taken from a helicopter. A voice over of the reporter drifted through the television's speakers as the screen moved on to showing some establishing shots of Hawaii's rain forests. "The island of Kauai; a place home to mysterious folklore and captivating beauty. However, in recent weeks, Kauai has earned the world's attention for an entirely different and unique reason – it's now home to the Yesmal's Turtle." There was a pause as the screen started to display stock images of New York City's skyline. "The species first appeared seventeen years ago, living within Manhattan's sewer system. Since then, people have viewed the bipedal turtles with fear and an undying sense of curiosity, as they've escaped from captivity; mysteriously traveled around the globe; been the center of several Government conspiracy theories, and have been involved in one of the most controversial court cases in American history – The Bonesteel Murder." The turtles stared with intrigue at the screen, as they saw themselves running towards each other in excitement before hugging in a longing embrace. It depicted the turtles' reunion after their most recent capture, and obviously it was the footage that Aquel and Andrew had supplied to station. The voice over continued. "Many scientists have speculated on exactly how intelligent these beings are, or whether some of the details have been over exaggerated. Now the debate will finally come to an end, as _60 Minutes_ was invited to interview the beasts themselves."

"Beasts?" Mike instantly questioned.

"They just like using more elaborate descriptive words," Don decided not to take it personally.

"Shhh!" Leo swiftly hushed everyone.

A wide shot was shown where the turtles were seen inside a large cage, while the interviewer sat down in a chair located a few feet away. "I would like to start by thanking you all for meeting with us today-"

-"The pleasure's all ours," Leo quickly reciprocated. The smile on the reporter's face was caught on camera, before the focus continued to switch back and forth between close ups as each person spoke.

"I have to admit that I really didn't know what to expect," the woman lightheartedly bantered.

"That's okay. This is new to us as well," Leo lightly smiled back. It seemed that for the moment Don and Mike were content in letting Leonardo do most of the talking.

"So do you have names?" the reporter curiously asked.

"My name is Leonardo. These are my brothers Donatello and Michelangelo," Leo formally introduced.

"Interesting…" the reporter was heard muttering under her breath. "So how did you come across those names? Were they given to you by the staff from the New York Zoo?"

"No. We were named by our father." Leo answered.

"What I feel a lot of people fail to realise is that our customs aren't too dissimilar to what humans practice," Donatello finally spoke up.

"So you like to think of yourselves as ordinary people?" the reporter wanted clarification. She furrowed her eyebrows, as though she was struggling hard to understand their situation.

"If you can call us ordinary!" Mike chuckled.

"Now, before we go on, I'm sure that a lot of the viewers at home would be wondering why you are caged. This is for safety reasons, correct?" the reporter asked, even though she knew the answer.

"Yes, it's because of Occupational Health and Safety restrictions. You see, our species has been classified as being dangerous, which means that while in captivity, there must be a hands-off approach, or only highly trained staff are allowed to have direct contact with us. So in order for this interview to take place, we needed to be contained. So we volunteered to enter this cage," Donatello explained.

"So how do you feel about all this? Are you really dangerous?" the reporter asked the questions that the entire world wanted the answers to.

"Well…" Leonardo paused, thinking very carefully about what he was going to say, as he definitely didn't want his words to be misinterpreted. "Believe us when we say that we really don't intend on hurting humans. None of us gain any pleasure from it. But you have to see things from our point of view. When we're being hunted, we don't know what plans people have for us. In the past my family has been separated - sometimes even interstate, experimented on and even shot at. For instance, a little while ago, some poachers on horseback chased my family down, and wounded my daughter with a shotgun. When we're in those dangerous situations, I'm positive that people can sympathise with me when I say that I simply can't just stand around and do nothing," Leonardo gave a heartfelt explanation.

"So you attack out of self-defense?" the reporter kept on asking her rhetorical questions.

"Yes, exactly. I either try to defend my family, or let them be at the mercy of strangers. Like I said, I don't enjoy being in that position, and I would like to take the time now to sincerely apologise to any families that I've broken," Leonardo said those words with honesty, staring squarely straight down the barrel of the camera. The reporter simply nodded along with the turtle's statements.

"So how is your daughter?" she wondered.

"She's getting better. She needed an emergency operation, but she's healing now. Thank you for your concern," Leo formally said.

"I'm glad to hear it," the reporter quickly uttered before moving on to her next topic. "Now, as you might know, there's quite a lot of rumours circulating around about your species. I was wondering if you'd like to clear a few things up and help us and our viewers from separating fact and fiction."

"Sure thing," Mike swiftly obliged.

"For years, people in New York City have said that you used to save citizens from criminals, like some mysterious group of super heroes. It has also been said that you are all trained in Martial Arts. Is this all true?" The reporter once again furrowed her eyebrows. Either she was genuinely intrigued or just feigning for the camera.

"Sure is!" Mike butted in. Leo gave him an extremely brief glance in annoyance, just hoping that his orange-wearing loud-mouthed brother would have some tact when discussing these delicate issues. Before the interview, all three turtles had made it a rule to keep a lot of their past - especially the events revolving their mutation - a secret from the world. The last thing they needed was some keen scientist trying to replicate the conditions surrounding their origins.

"We did indeed used to try and help people in need. But that all stopped after we were exposed. We couldn't be seen in public after that, since people would automatically report our whereabouts to personnel intent on catching us," Donatello explained further.

"So… just to repeat that; you do know Martial Arts? We've seen footage of you using traditional Eastern weapons, so is that part of that?" the reporter pushed, wanting a more direct answer – one they could briefly stick in a future promotional trailer.

"Yes. That's correct," Leo left it at that, not wanting to elaborate. The reporter wasn't satisfied. What the turtles had said simply raised more questions.

"So I guess that begs the question as to who helped you to learn Martial Arts? Did you have any human help back before you were exposed?"

"No, we didn't have any humans friends," Leonardo lied, not wanting to talk about April, Casey and Chung I. "We were taught ninjitsu by our father," Leo added, knowing that he couldn't avoid the topic any further.

"You mentioned your father earlier. So was he like you?" the reporter asked, still holding her pensive expression.

"Yes, he was," Leo said, though this time he wasn't exactly lying.

"I guess that brings me to my next question," the reporter moved along. "A lot of people have been wondering as to whether you were born this way – as in, you're a species that has been around for centuries that has only been discovered now – or, if you're the first of your kind. Which is it?"

Michelangelo and Donatello both held a little smile on their face; just staying absolutely silent while humorously wondering how the heck Leo was going to talk his way out of that one. "Well…" Leo paused. "It might surprise you to know that we were all born as regular pet shop turtles. But that's a really, really, long story. So long that it would just be faster to write a book about it," Leonardo playfully joked. The reporter predictably laughed, most likely out of politeness and because of the camera. Leonardo continued to smile as a means to hide his own nervousness. He knew that he had left several gigantic holes in his answer, such as to how their father would have taught them if he too were once a normal animal like them. But Leo was hoping that the reporter might realise her questioning was coming to a dead end, and that her precious time might be better spent asking questions on another topic. It seemed to work.

"So, since you said that, does that mean that you're all literate?" the reporter unintentionally diverted the subject. The turtles welcomed the change.

"Yes, we are. In fact, a lot of us read as a form of entertainment," Donatello answered.

"Now, this question has been argued within the general and scientific community for quite some time; but are we safe to assume that every member of your species is intelligent? Are you all capable of speaking English?" the reporter asked possibly the most demeaning question of the night. But the turtles tried not to be annoyed or embarrassed by her ignorance, as they knew that she meant well.

"Yes, we are all capable of speaking, writing and reading English," Donatello beat Leo to answering, since he personally wanted to field all the questions relating to their level of intelligence.

"So exactly how intelligent are you? Are you smarter than humans?"

"Well it all depends on how you rate intelligence. If by intelligence you're wondering how we compare to humans on a mental level, then we're very similar. Like we experience and understand complex emotions, we can make momentous decisions, we're educated in the sciences and mathematics, we have our own moral code, and we can adapt rapidly to changes. So if you believe that doing those things makes us intelligent, well then I guess we are. Are we smarter than humans? Um… well, I think that all depends on the individual you're comparing us to," Donatello explained, finishing off with a little smile.

"Good answer," the reporter seemed to be impressed.

"Thank you," Don said, completely grateful that he was able to get his point across.

Watching the footage, Don wondered if he had spoken too cynically, but no one else in his family seemed to comment on it. The turtle sighed, believing that he was simply too critical of himself. As he started to shrug those thoughts off, a few raindrops dribbled from the leaves of the canopy above and landed straight onto the crown of his head. It wasn't long until more droplets sifted easily through the trees, splattering onto the small crowd below. The turtles frowned at the change of weather, while the two humans shivered together, but no quantity of rain could dampen their spirits and interfere with the amount of intensity they used to stare at the screen.

"One other thing that people have always debated about was whether you were involved with the murder of Bonesteel. Now, I'm not sure if you know what happened, but basically the man who originally caught you, Simon Bonesteel, was found dead inside Dr Welner's apartment. During the trial, Dr Welner claimed that he didn't murder Bonesteel, as your species and the other anomaly studied at New York Zoo – a primate known as Zaius – were present at the scene and were the cause of his death," the reporter recapped. The three turtles could have cut her off by saying that they were familiar with the events that took place in the courtroom, but they figured that she was probably summarising the story not just for them, but for the people at home who may not be so up to date with current affairs. "So is Dr Welner's story true? Were you present the night that Bonesteel was murdered?" she finally got around to asking.

"Yes, Dr Welner's story is true, and he is innocent," Leo confirmed it for the world. "It was Silver who killed Bonesteel."

"Silver?" the reporter was confused.

"He was called Zaius by the keepers at the zoo, but his real name is Silver," Michelangelo piped up.

"I hope you can see why there was so much controversy around this case. Dr Welner's story just seemed so improbable. But now you've admitted that the unlikely can happen. So that now begs the question as to why you were there that night?"

Once again Donatello and Michelangelo decided to let Leo deal with the difficult question. "That's another long story," Leo lightly chuckled after not knowing what else to say. If he detailed that Raphael had visited Welner in middle of the night in an attempt to get revenge over the death of his father, then it would depict their species as being dangerous, and would work against and contradict everything that they had said in the interview thus far.

"It seems that you like to keep a lot of things to yourself," the reporter pressed, wanting more of an insight to their motivations.

"It's just a long story. We won't have time," Leo persisted, maintaining his excuse.

"Maybe some other day then," the reporter got the hint. "Well, I've asked a lot of questions, and I thank you for answering them, but I'm sure that there's something that you'd like to say in return. To the people watching, is there any message you'd like to give them? What did you want to get out of this interview?"

Andrew scoffed at the television. "That's a bit… hypocritical. She says she's asked enough questions, and then in the next sentence, she dumps another lot on you!"

The rain started to get heavier. The droplets on Aquel's light blue blouse that used to be spread around like little wet polka dots were now starting to bleed together, making her thoroughly soaked. She gently elbowed Andrew and gestured towards the large camping backpack he had brought along for the night, knowing that there were two raincoats inside. She didn't need to say what she wanted – her chattering teeth told him everything. Not needing to be poked twice, Andrew quickly leaned forward, rummaged around, and yanked out the bright yellow plastic, full-length jackets.

"She's just trying to direct the conversation; so she can control it. She's been doing it this whole time," Donatello commented while the two humans slipped on their unfashionable yet practical raincoats.

"Shh!" Leo hushed for the umpteenth time that hour. The group fell silent once again as the interview came to a conclusion.

"We hope that at the end of this, people can see that we're not so different after all. Sure, we may look peculiar, and we're not mammals, but we have the same desires and wishes as any normal human being," Donatello told the reporter and thus the world.

"And what might those wishes be?" the woman urged them to continue.

"Privacy," Mike summed it up in one word.

"We just want to live out the rest of our lives in a peaceful manner, not having to worry about being hunted down, separated, or sold by poachers on the black market. I just want to be able to work hard, spend time with my family, and raise my kids in a safe environment. Isn't that the American dream? The right to live in freedom?" Leonardo made his case.

"Being so unique, do believe that your species will ever find that kind of peace?" the reporter asked, sounding sympathetic.

"I hope so," Mike sincerely murmured.

"If people learn to respect us, and to acknowledge that we're living creatures too that need our own space," Leo added.

"The IUCN have listed our species as being endangered, sometimes critically endangered. Along with living in a national park, thankfully environmental laws have given us some protection. But… sometimes that's not enough, and that has been proven by the fact that people are still tracking us down, invading our space and harming our family. In the end, all we want is equality, and to be treated as kindly as human beings treat each other. I don't really think that's too much to ask for," Donatello made a rather passionate plea.

"I agree," the reporter simply said. "Thank you so much for taking the time to appear on our show," the woman ended the interview.

"That's okay. Thank you so much for wanting to speak to us," Leo replied.

"I wish you and your species the best of luck in the future years," she concluded. Much to the turtles' surprise, the reporter absentmindedly leaned forward and broke the rules by shaking the turtles' hands each in turn. Leo just surmised that she did it out of habit, since it was customary for every interview. Once the camera had stopped rolling, Leo had recalled her look of shock as she had just realised her mistake. Little did any of them know, that that short, five second piece of footage would be the face of their plight. It was just a simple gesture of respect and equality – a moment of media history that would endlessly be referred to over the years in newspapers and news broadcasts as a symbol of when the Yesmal Turtle first gained some ground as being viewed as an equal.

"So what did you think?" Donatello asked for everyone's opinion after switching the television off.

"She was one tough cookie," Aquel scoffed.

"Yeah, she really asked some hard questions," Venus agreed.

"Kept me on my toes," Leo commented. He continued to stare at the blank television screen, still in disbelief as to how he actually managed to make it through that interview.

"I should have said more," Mike criticised himself.

"I'm glad you didn't. If you had said the wrong thing, that whole interview could've gone down the drain," Leo analysed. Mike pouted.

"Are you saying that I can't keep my mouth shut?" Michelangelo playfully argued.

"We're talking about you, right?" was Leo's response. Mike was about to childishly poke out his tongue, but Iris beat him to it, incidentally catching a few raindrops while doing so. Seeing her reaction, Mike giggled with his daughter. Don could only shake his head at the pair.

"So was it everything you hoped for?" Aquel asked the turtles, hoping that they were pleased with everything that they had organised.

"It's a really good start. I think we came across okay – said the basics of what we wanted," Don analysed with a nod.

"T'was good," Raph commented with a slight shrug.

"Well you shouldn't worry too much, because that's only the start," Andrew warned them.

"The start?" Mike was confused.

"Of course that's just the beginning! The ratings for them tonight would've been through the roof! Now every other station will want a piece of the action. I really doubt that this will be your first and last interview. Before you know it, you'll be the headline of every newspaper, with your own toy line, song, Playstation game and cartoon," Andrew playfully predicted.

"Really? Our own cartoon?" Mike found himself repeating the man's words.

"But what about what we said? About wanting peace and quiet?" Leo questioned, hoping that they hadn't just made a huge mistake.

"Don't worry about it," Andrew said, waving his hand around as though he wanted to just brush the problem aside. "I was only exaggerating," he admitted. "Though others will try to get an interview, but they'd have to work through me, and I will only ever agree to anything with your consent. So you can do as many or as little interviews as you like. Though what will most likely happen is that for the next couple of weeks there'll be a media frenzy, before it'll all die down, regardless of whether you give into them or not," Andrew commented, assuring Leonardo their much-needed privacy.

"Thanks for handling all this for us," Leo said with complete sincerity. Under the large, yellow hood of the raincoat, the turtle could see his big grin. Leo didn't need words to know that the man was aware of their undying gratitude.

"That's okay. As long as we can sleep in those nice and dry caves tonight, then I'm happy," Andrew slyly asked.

"Will there really be cartoons made about us?" the idea wouldn't leave Mike's mind. "That would be so awesome!" he was starting to get excited. "Leo, can we do more interviews, please?" Mike whined, hoping that with more talks came more popularity, and with more popularity came the possibility of having a cartoon.

"I'll think about it," Leonardo pondered a smirk.

_To be continued…_

A/N: First of all, I apologise for the long wait in-between updates. Getting a new job in retail, things got really busy over Christmas and the school holidays. Anyway, I hope that the switching between past and present events in the interview scene wasn't too confusing. Also, I just want to say that the next chapter will be the last. Yes, after writing this for over a year, this fic will finally come to an end. Hopefully it won't be too long till I update the finale o.0!


	23. The Ghost of Kauai

Author's Note: Well, this is the last chapter. My apologies for the extreme lateness with this last update. I just hope that it is worth the wait. Thank you for being so patient with me.

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Ghost of Kauai

Dr Aquel anxiously fingered the handle of her suitcase as she watched her taxi slowly park beside the reception area of the campsite. With a little sigh she stood up, grabbed her bags, and greeted the driver when he came around the back of the car to open the trunk for her. As the man took care of her belongings, Andrew Walker solemnly stepped out from the reception building.

"So you're really leaving?" he asked Aquel one more time.

"Filming has finished," was her simple reply.

"Just because we organised an interview doesn't mean that we can't release a documentary at a later date," Andrew pointed out.

"It takes years to make a documentary. I agreed to stay on for the short term project, not the long haul," Aquel clarified with a sympathetic tone.

"I see," Andrew murmured, eyes downcast. Susan waited a few moments, almost hoping that he would bring up another reason for her to stay. He did. "And what about the turtles?"

"For now, we've done everything we can for them."

"But what about Diana and the baby? Someone needs to record all of the uncollected data concerning their birth and hatching in a scientific manner," Andrew hinted.

Aquel paused for a moment, wondering if she could bait him into giving a direct answer. "I suppose a new job position has opened up for a scientific researcher and behavioural analyst?" she assumed with a small smile and yet there was an allusion of hope in her voice.

"There is now," Andrew solemnly said.

There was her long awaited answer – at least as clear as it was going to get. Andrew wasn't solely interested in having someone help him when it came to dealing with all of the problems, both legal and scientific, surrounding the mutant turtles living in the National Park. It seemed he just wanted her to stay and was willing to organise just about anything to make that happen.

At forty-three years of age, Susan Aquel had given up all hope of starting a family years ago. She was always at heart a scientifically minded individual, who relished being relatively in control of her life. To abandon everything - such as her long career at the zoo, her fellow work colleagues in zookeeping, and the familiarity of the city of New York - in order to dive headfirst into a relationship where she would be forced to hopelessly submit to her sometimes illogical feelings, greatly terrified her. She had always longed for it deep in the core of her soul, however she had merely decided that it was the forever-elusive ideal that appealed to her, and that reality was far more unattractive. Too fearful of permanent change, her mind reasoned that she would prefer to have an unrequited love story, than to act out what could possibly end up being a painful experience.

"New York is my home," Aquel uttered suddenly. Her heart felt like it had been deflated as her rational, defensive instinct took over like always.

Andrew seemed shocked by her answer at first, but then he gave her an understanding nod. He started to feel foolish for ever thinking that a New York woman like her would give up everything in order to spend more time with him.

"In that case, it has been a pleasure working with you," Andrew said, holding out his hand. Aquel gratefully shook it. "You will be sorely missed," he added.

"It has been a great experience," Aquel sincerely said. They both suddenly felt awkward.

"Well, I shouldn't hold you up any more. Have a safe flight!" Andrew said as a farewell, taking a few steps back towards the reception building.

"Thank you!" Aquel said with a forced smile. Deep inside, she didn't want to leave at all even though she knew those feelings weren't really logical. Even as the taxi started to drive up the pebbled driveway, she envisioned herself begging the driver to stop, only to run back to Andrew, asking for forgiveness for what she had just said to him. Of course, that was something that only happened in the movies, and she mentally berated herself for dreaming up such foolish fantasies. She had to go back to New York – it was the most sensible thing to do. Naturally she could always return, especially to do the IVF procedures, but right at that moment, her job at Kauai was over.

When she boarded her plane later on that afternoon, she still couldn't shake the feeling that she was tearing herself between two worlds. As the aircraft took off, she suddenly wished she had done the melodramatic thing and jumped out of that taxi…

* * *

__

Five and a half months later…

The first outward sign was a little hairline crack along the eggshell's surface. Then the egg wobbled ever so slightly within the confines of the solar-powered incubator. Yet, as it was unusually hatching in the middle of the day, it wasn't a surprise that there were no excited murmurs from fellow family members. The turtles were much too busy for that.

"See the bulb of this plant?" Leonardo asked the little yellow-wearing turtle. It brought a smile to his face when he witnessed an eager nod of recognition from Iris. Over the past few months, her interest and concentration in her ninjitsu studies had increased greatly, much to Leo's surprise and delight. The girl had matured, even though she still caved in to her free spirit from time to time, still wandering off on jungle expeditions. Some less observant people would label Iris' new spark of interest to be derived from sibling rivalry. But Leonardo knew better. While Iris still wanted to challenge Gabriel in the future, her motivation wasn't out of jealousy, but rather respect. She worked harder everyday in the hopes that sometime in the future, she would at least stand half a chance against her most worthy and exciting opponent.

Leonardo spun the uprooted plant in his palms before handing it over to Iris so that she could have a closer look. "The bulb is the most toxic part, especially to humans. One shot from a dart lined in the bulb's juices will send someone to hospital for a few days," Leo explained. Regretting the fact that he hadn't taught Iris about the more serious potions earlier, Leo now made a point to continue in introducing her to more and more deadly natural remedies. Thankfully it was a lot easier to teach Iris now due to her more eager disposition.

"Hey Leo!" Mike suddenly called out. Leonardo turned to stare at him, only to realise that Diana was nearby as well with a kama in each hand. "How much longer are you going to be?"

"Give me fifteen minutes."

"If you don't mind, can I train Diana today?" Mike asked. Curious, Leo shifted his gaze to his daughter.

"Don's sparring with Raph and Mum is training with Gabriel, so I thought I could spar with Mikey," Diana reasoned.

"If you're feeling up to it, I don't see why not. Facing up against another opponent might get you to stop freezing up in battle," Leo analysed. Although the new plans had wrecked his lesson outline for the day, he was still happy the clan was starting to work as one unit once again – everyone helping everyone else out.

"I want to spar against you with your nunchucks!" Diana eagerly suggested. Mike looked baffled.

"Nunchucks? Why not my tonfas?"

"You told me you were the Nunchuck King," Diana didn't answer his question, but instead referred to something he had boasted about previously in life.

"He's no Nunchuck King."

"And what do you know about nunchucks, Leo?" Mike only gave him a second to reply before continuing. "Nothing! Just as I thought!"

Leonardo simply shook his head, had a little chuckle and then returned to his lesson with Iris.

"Please Mikey!" Diana asked again.

"You sure you're up for it? You'll have to be quick on your feet," Mike worried, gesturing towards her once injured leg. Diana's gunshot wound had healed quite well, although there was some scarring.

"Not if I disarm you in the first five seconds," Diana boldly challenged.

Mike scoffed. "You're on!"

Before either of them could even move, a tender welcome drifted in on the breeze. "Hello!?" Andrew called out as he plodded through the forest towards the turtles' lair. "I come in peace!" he added as a joke.

"In order to pass, you must offer a sacrifice!" Mike yelled back.

"I brought some chocolate-chip cookies!" was the instant reply.

"Good enough," Mike said with a smile as his long-time friend got even closer. It was then that he noticed that Andrew hadn't come alone. "Hi Susan!"

"Hi Michelangelo," Aquel said. It ended up that she was only in New York for a week and half. She had lasted a few days before she felt the desire to give Andrew a telephone call. Naturally she used the excuse that she wanted to check up on the turtles, but their conversation quickly drifted from the topic of work, much to both Susan and Andrew's delight. After phoning him three consecutive days in a row, Aquel could no longer lie to herself and to Andrew. Taking up his still-valid offer to stay in Kauai, Aquel arranged to move interstate, saying farewell to her friends, family and her New York city apartment. After closely working together for another month, Andrew – after being on the receiving end of many of Mike's pep talks – finally gathered the courage to ask Susan out on an official date. From then on, they still remained in a relationship.

"Everyone's fine," Mike answered before the scientist could even ask.

Aquel grinned. "Yes, I'm always here for work reasons. Sad, isn't it?" she commented with a pout. "So Venus hasn't had any complications?" Given that Diana's egg was due to hatch any day, Don, Venus and Leo decided to go ahead with their idea of using IVF in order to start passing on Don's genes; the concept of which had been pre-approved moths ago in order to combat the new Conservation Laws surrounding their species. Susan knew that the procedure was successful, however there were some aspects that still concerned her.

"No, she seems to have recovered from the anesthetic quite well. I think we're all quite used to it, unfortunately," Leonardo said, finally deciding to give up on Iris' lesson due to all of the interruptions.

"I double-checked all of my data. The baby should be a healthy girl," Susan reconfirmed. Before the IVF procedure, there was a quick debate between the adults of the clan as to whether they should choose the gender of Don and Venus' child. All the turtles did feel somewhat uneasy about being so scientific about the choice between male or female, but in the end the main reason why they decided to go ahead in making the baby a girl was because Donatello was rather uncomfortable with having another son. Naturally, they couldn't give that reason to the two researchers, so instead they told them that having another female would be beneficial to their gene pool. It seemed that no matter how close they became to their human friends, Morpheus would always be a secret within the turtle clan.

"You should remind Don then that the gender's based on genes, not the temperature," Leonardo murmured.

"Yeah, he's been paranoid over that incubator, wondering if it's the right temperature and whatnot," Mike agreed with Leo's irksome sentiments.

"I'll see to it that I will," Susan said with an amused smile across her face. "So the egg's still okay?" she said as she walked over to the old, solar-powered incubator.

"It's still there," Mike stated the obvious.

"Oh my…"

"What?"

"I think it's hatching!" Aquel exclaimed.

"Get Raph!" Leo instructed Mike. The blue-wearing turtle then went on his own search to hurriedly find Venus.

As Diana, Iris and the two researchers anxiously observed the hatching egg, Mike sprinted down one of the clan's forest pathways. Knowing how excited he was when he witnessed Iris' hatching, Mike completely understood the importance of being in the presence of this life-altering event. He had a rough idea of where Donatello and Raphael were sparring, Thankfully his first guess was correct.

Raph and Don were completely immersed with their rough sparring session. "Raph!" the red-wearing turtle heard his uncle from afar. The teen stopped for a split second, allowing Don the opportunity to strike him hard on his right bicep with his heavy bo. Raphael flinched.

"Don't get distracted!" Donatello wisely reminded his pupil the rules of combat.

"Give him a break, Don," Mike puffed as he finally reached his two family members. "He's almost a father. It's hatching!"

Raphael almost dropped both of his sai in surprise. For some reason the moment felt so surreal – the day that he had been waiting for for months had finally arrived and now he couldn't believe it. Donatello had also been nervous about this day. All three of them sprinted back to the lair with weightless legs as though their mind was running for them. With Leo finding Venus and Gabriel, now the entire family was staring at the contents of the incubator.

A small fraction of the shell wiggled, lifted and dropped, as the baby inside tried its best to kick its way out. Diana looked on forlornly as she instinctively wanted to help, but thankfully for the well being of her newborn, she restrained herself. While months ago she wasn't keen on having a child, after going through the trouble of laying the large egg, she couldn't help but feel a strong connection to her arduous investment. Catching Raphael's contagious level of excitement, for the past month Diana thought of nothing but holding her baby in her arms. Now that moment was finally about to arrive.

At first there was a toe. Then a leg. While Diana and Raphael continued to look on with loving interest, Donatello held a horrified expression. Something was wrong. Thoughts of Morpheus' mutated body occurred to him as he observed the newborn's oddly pale skin. Then parts of the shell could be seen. It was yellow in coloration, not the strong dark gray carapace that a hatchling's usually was. By now, except for the two parents, everyone else held a worried expression. Eventually the little turtle pushed itself out of the confines of its eggshell completely, confirming everyone's fears.

It wasn't normal. Not a patch of green could be seen anywhere on the baby's little body. With pale blue eyes, the skin was an off-white colour while the shell was a strong yellow. Donatello could hardly believe what he was seeing – the fears Diana had months ago about having an abnormal child had unfortunately come true. No one spoke as they stared at the little hatchling that stared back at them.

It was Diana that broke the heavy, awkward silence. "She's beautiful!" the teenage mother gasped. She instantly reached forward and picked up her long-awaited baby, cradled it in her arms, then turned to Raphael to gladly show him. Don watched on, as though the teenage couple were in a little world of their own, completely oblivious to the flaws in their child. That's when Don decided to quell his prejudiced reaction and fears by taking a closer look himself.

Diana was correct – the hatchling was definitely female. The little girl had two toes on each foot, and three digits on each hand. The eyes were clear, bright and alert, while the breathing seemed natural and not labored. Apart from the lack of pigmentation in the skin, the child was otherwise completely healthy and indeed, in some ways, beautiful.

"It's albino," Susan Aquel whispered in disbelief. It really shouldn't have shocked her since she already knew that both Diana and Raphael were heterozygous for albinism. Therefore there was a one in four chance of the offspring lacking melanin. What surprised her was that it confirmed her fears that Dr Yesmal really didn't check the genetics before artificially inseminating Diana. Or maybe he did and this was one of his ways of getting his revenge? If that was the case, then it didn't work, as by judging Raph and Diana's faces, the parents ultimately didn't care what their daughter looked like. They loved her regardless.

Bliss was named within the hour, called after the mythological granddaughter of the Roman goddess of love, Venus. By that time she had been cradled in the arms of everyone and Aquel had performed a quick health check up. While Bliss currently seemed contented in tugging on Raphael's red bandanna tails as he held her proudly in his arms, Leonardo coerced Don, Susan and Andrew away from the rest of the clan so that future matters could be discussed. "So what does this mean?" Leo openly asked.

"Well, she's albino. Not a true albino since there's some pigmentation in Bliss' eyes. It's interesting because we haven't mapped your genome yet, and now it's obvious that the albinism gene is linked to the skin, not necessarily with the eyes," Susan gave her hypothesis.

"Leucistic?" Don suggested, referring to some albino-like colorations found in other animals.

"Possibly. I'll have to run a few more tests."

"So is that good?" Leo was starting to feel a little left out with all of the scientific talk.

"Well, hopefully she won't develop any eyesight problems like what true albinos get. You'll have to make sure that her skin doesn't get damaged by the sun, but there's enough shade in these woods that you'll probably won't have to worry too much about that," Susan analysed.

"The world must never know about Bliss," Andrew suddenly interrupted after being silent for quite some time.

"Why?"

"An albino Yesmal's turtle – her shell would be worth more on the black market than you and Don's combined," Andrew solemnly warned.

"But what about the Environmental Laws and Endangered Animal Acts? Surely that'll-"

"That won't deter the hard-core poachers. For a creature _that_ rare, they'll do anything," Andrew interrupted Don. Leonardo remained silent, knowing it was true.

"So what about the media? They know a baby is on the way," Don focused on the next problem. After the interview on _60 Minutes_, other reporters from different television stations frantically offered their services. Andrew wisely handled all of the calls and turned each of them down; his aim being to let the media frenzy die before the turtles found themselves being overexposed in the multitude of interviews, franchises and YouTube parodies, much to Michelangelo's dismay. At first Andrew had thought differently, but after the first media extravaganza, Leonardo entrusted him with the knowledge about their past – specifically that surrounding Master Splinter and the Foot clan. Andrew quickly realised that eventually reporters would be too curious about the turtles' obvious ninjitsu origins and they may unintentionally discover the other mutants involved in their lives, or worse yet, reawaken some old, but still loyal Foot ninjas, possibly causing some members to reunite. So for most part Andrew played a delicate game of give and take – he gave the news about the future of the clan and their conservation efforts so that the reporters wouldn't dwell into the past. However, he was still determined to make a documentary, though that would take months to produce and edit.

"I don't know. Newspaper editors have been on my back for weeks. If I don't give them a photo of a never-before-seen infant Yesmal's turtle, then they'll send someone out here, and I can't exactly protect you guys from nature-loving photographers.," Andrew explained the problem.

"Then the egg never hatched," Leo thought of a lie.

"That's not fair on Susan and Andrew. Their work will be scrutinised by the scientific community. No doubt there'll be talks about whether they should get some other expert in to handle the genetics of our species," Don commented.

Susan's mind seemed to be in another place as she held a small smile on her face for some odd reason. "I just thought of something so crazy that it might actually work."

"I'm game. Let's hear it," Andrew encouraged out of the lack of other options.

"We hold them off for a few more months and send them photos of Don's child instead," Susan suggested.

"And pretend that Don's child was never born?"

"No, rather we use the same baby to represent both," Susan clarified.

"Would that work?" Don sounded baffled.

"I don't see why not. No one's ever seen a newborn of your kind before and no one knows the growth rate. We'll just change the bandanna and no one will notice the difference."

"We don't all look the same!" Don argued. There was a brief silence.

"Well I'll be honest. If you guys all took off your gear, I wouldn't be able to tell you apart," Andrew sheepishly admitted, starting to warm up to Susan's crazy idea. Then again it wasn't unusual for him to always take his girlfriend's side, causing the turtles to frequently joke about who wore the pants in the relationship. "I like the idea," he added, not that he would say otherwise. "But can we really hold off the media for another six months?"

"Zoo's do it all the time. It's rare for a zoo to release baby animal photos or even news of the birth until it's ensured that the infant will survive. With some species they're not on exhibit until a few months after," said Susan.

"And what do we tell them?"

"We'll just say that the hatchling is in a critical condition; the family is being protective; we've got a contract with some company and can't release any photos as that will breach it; we'll think of something to tell them," Susan explained.

"What do you think, Leo?" Don wanted his brother's thoughts.

"Leave it to Andrew and Susan. They know what they're doing," Leo answered, trusting his human friends.

* * *

"PINK?" Raphael exclaimed.

"I think pink would really suit her," Diana said as she cradled Bliss in her arms.

"Yeah, but pink?" Diana looked up to see Raph crinkle his snout and stick out his tongue to one side. It was obvious to her that he had some aversion to the colour. She giggled gently.

"You said that if it was a girl, then I could pick the colour of her bandanna. And what's wrong with pink anyway?" Diana cheekily argued.

"Well, it's just so… girly!"

"She is a girl."

"I know but… there are other colours."

"Such as?" Diana raised an eye-ridge.

"Uh, brown?" Raph accidentally said the first colour that came to his mind.

"Ew!"

"Well, I suppose I could accept mauve," Raph relented.

"Don wants mauve for his daughter," Diana informed him.

"He can't put colours on layby!"

"Yes I can!" Don interjected. The rest of the clan found the light-hearted petty argument to be terribly amusing. With Aquel and Andrew returning back to the campsite for the night, the turtles found themselves inexplicably drawn to the newcomer of the family. They fussed over Bliss for seemingly hours; holding her, watching her crawl and explore her new surroundings, even discussing her parents' thoughts about her. It was Iris who was curious to know what colour her little niece would one day wear.

"Bliss was born first, so she gets first pick!" Raph immaturely debated.

"I'll fight you for it," Don decided. Although it was threatened in a jovial manner, the usually passive turtle had taken Raph a little by surprise.

"Well if you want mauve that bad, then you can have it," Raph suddenly backed down. Although he made it sound like he wasn't terribly happy with the colour mauve anyway, Raph had really backed down because, after remembering his sparring session with his uncle earlier, he knew he would lose horribly. Donatello chuckled, knowing the real reason to his verbal retreat.

"Raph, go with pink. It will suit her," Venus gave her opinion.

"I thought it would be symbolic. You know, red and white combined?" Diana explained her choices more thoroughly. Raphael quietly watched his sleeping daughter in her arms.

"Alright," Raphael agreed. "If you like it that much," he said softly as he traced a finger along the underside of Bliss' tiny feet and toes.

"Thank you, Raph!" Diana said before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. At that moment Bliss woke up. She crinkled her face as though she was going to cry, but was suddenly distracted when Raphael continued to touch and play with her feet. She held a perplexed expression for a second, then grinned and kicked her little feet around, causing her dad to play with them more fervently.

Venus grinned at the sight and turned to Leonardo to see if he held the same expression. However he was no longer by her side or even watching the baby. Curious, she searched for her husband and eventually found him on the edge of the clan's home boundaries. He was just staring into the forest with his own mind as his sole form of entertainment. "You missed the cutest thing," Venus said as she approached him.

"I'm sure there'll be more moments," Leonardo sighed.

"Is something the matter?"

"I was just thinking of Bliss' future," Leo stated.

"I know not everything has gone to plan, but everything will work out in the end. Susan told me she was healthy and that's the best we could ever hope for, really," Venus remained optimistic.

"It's just… We try so hard and all we ever get is one problem after another," Leo admitted in defeat.

"But that's just life. Without problems we'd never appreciate the good times," Venus softly reminded him.

"It's also what makes life so interesting," Leo added, hearing all of the sayings and arguments before.

"What's really on your mind?" Venus asked, knowing that his thoughts ran deeper.

"How can I teach an albino to blend into the darkness of night?" Leo worried.

"Are you scared?"

"She's going to be hunted, Venus! Surely you must know that," Leo said, saying the fear that lurked within his mind.

"I do, and there's nothing we can really do about it," Venus agreed. "Come with me."

"Where?"

"Just come," Venus enticed him with a little, almost sassy smile on her face. Intrigued by Venus' odd game, he followed. They meandered around the vine-covered trees that littered the forest, helped only by their sleek, moonlit outline. A thundering continuous roar could be heard in the distance. It grew louder as they traveled onwards and soon Leo guessed their destination. Venus had led Leonardo to the edge of the cliff. Below them was a fresh, turbulent river, powered solely by the impressive waterfall which could be witnessed on the other side. It was beautiful spot, even at night, though the location made him nervous as it was also a popular lookout point for many tourists.

"What if a human comes?" Leo voiced his concern.

"No one goes bush walking at this time," Venus reassured him.

"So what did you want to show me?"

"The river of life."

Leonardo was confused. "I think it's called something else."

"No, not that. I was using a… Now what is it called?"

"A metaphor?" Leo answered after some thought.

"Yes, that!" Venus confirmed. After all these years, there were still a few words in the English language that she still wasn't sure of. "Look at the river and how it flows, and how it will continue to flow until it merges with an entire ocean."

"But a person can control this river and build a dam," Leonardo counter-acted.

"Why are you building a dam?" Venus questioned his thoughts.

"Maybe I'm fearful of the rapid speed at which it flows," Leonardo murmured. "We're grandparents, Venus," Leo stated the facts.

"I feel old too."

"I suppose you're going to tell me that there's still more things to see, more to travel, just like this river, in that it keeps going?"

"You know me too well," Venus giggled. "I didn't know it would be so simple for you."

"No, no. I like the analogy," Leo admitted. "I wouldn't want to see a dam. It would destroy it's beauty, as fearsome as it may be sometimes," Leonardo sighed. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, as though he was trying to soak up the smells and sounds of the atmosphere.

"The most fearsome thing is to have no river at all," Venus said after a couple of moments.

"Sometimes I wonder how Silver is going. How he's coping – if he's even still alive," Leo pondered after Venus' last comment reminded him of their old zoo cellmate. "I guess his life is the sad alternative to ours. To be the last of our kind; just die out."

"We're just going to keep on going and see where it takes us," Venus summarised.

"Yeah," Leo said in agreement. Looking across the gorge, Leonardo suddenly noticed the flicker of a few flashlights. It seemed that there were indeed a few late bush walkers still plodding along the long, narrow tracks. It would still take a while for them to reach the lookout point where the two turtles were standing, but for some reason Leonardo was no longer paranoid about their presence. A year ago he wouldn't have taken the chance and would've darted into the forest as soon as he saw a human in the far distance. But these days they didn't have to worry; chances are the worst they'd do is take their photo, and even that was no longer a life-altering action.

"They look like Night Marchers from here," Leo humorously told Venus, finding their presence similar to that of the old Hawaiian urban legends.

"Don't they know that we're the new ghosts of the forest?" Venus said with a conniving grin.

"And Bliss will be the greatest ghost of them all," Leonardo said with nothing but determination in his heart. If Bliss was unable to blend with the forest's darkness, then she'd haunt it with the moon by her side. Mesmerised by the river below, he continued to watch as moonlit droplets twisted and swirled until the entire body of water seemed to be infected by its shimmering delight. In that moment, Leonardo was glad that Venus had brought him before the awe of the waterfall and the very origin of life itself.

THE END


End file.
